Where Life Begins
by He's So Amazing
Summary: A new student transfers to Garden with hate for everything and everyone...With Rinoa being her usual open self she tries to understand him, and to fulfill her own selfish deeds...AU!! CHAPTER 15 UP!! SQUINOA
1. Difference

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 8...

Note: I know, I have been away from romances for awhile, but that's okay, right? Good...

Summary: A new student transfers to Garden and his personal life is kept a secret by Cid and is thus picked on by the kids...With Rinoa being her usual open self she tries to understand him (AU)(Not Corny, I sware)!!

**IMPORTANT::: The whole gang is 15 years of age....  ^__^ It is a great age (For me at least)!! Also Some characters are OOC**

**~***_Where Life Begins*~_

_~*Chapter 1: Difference*~_

_*************************************_

"Shut up, Zell!" Selphie cried. As she leaned forward across the bus aisle. Zell was seated lazily, legs filling the entire brown seat. Selphie lightly smacked him in the shins with her fist. After the contact Zell howled in pain and began to rub his leg furiously.

"Ouch." Zell complained as he slowly pulled his hands away from his shins. "Rinoa, did you see what she did to me?" Zell asked as he looked back behind one seat, to the very back where Rinoa was seated. She was doodling with a pencil and paper, slightly turning her head to an angle she felt appropriate.

"Selphie, stop flirting." Rinoa commanded with no expression as she continued to draw. Selphie blushed and cowered back into her seat. 

The bus lightly jumped as it ran over a small bump, forcing Rinoa's hand to slip and causing her pencil to destroy her new picture. Rinoa looked to her pencil angrily. But moved past it as she shoved the now ruined drawing into the very back of the bus and stuffed the pencil into her pocket. Now with her thoughts not concentrated on the drawing anymore, she looked up. Her eyes scanned across the empty seats. No one was ever on their bus. All the other children around their area went to schools where they taught algebra, history, grammar and other things. Their school was a different story, their school had classes about how to kill, how to upgrade weapons and how to protect yourself when assaulted. Those were all nice to know, but not important, or at least to any normal teenager their age. The people who went to this school were forced to use it once in their life _{(That sentence has no 'A's!!)}. _But not just use it, survive off it. Often when you exceed standards or pass all classes with a 'B' or higher you were forced into war, it didn't matter when, even if you had quit the school, you still had to fight.

Another bump in the road cause the bus to jump lightly off the ground.

"Did you hear?" Quistis began as she leaned close to Rinoa and the others.

"What?" Asked Irvine as he leaned in near Quistis's face like the rest of them.

"I heard a new student is coming today." She told them. Zell sighed in disapointment.

"That always happens!" Zell told her as laid back into his seat and leaned his against the window, causing him to look towards the top of the bus.

"But, it's not just that he is new. Cid actually forced him to come to Garden." Quistis told them, a small smirk on her lips. 

"I didn't think he could do that." Selphie said as he placed a finger under her chin.

"He obviously can." Quistis said. There was silence for a few moments, except the heavy breathing of Zell. Rinoa sighed and rested her head to the cool glass window. Her eyes gracefully floated toward to the military school known as Garden. The building was an inviting light blue with beautiful gardens full of flowers surrounding it. She could see students walking up the long cement walk way that lead to the entrance. 

The bus came to a jerking stop, waking all of them from their thoughts. The 5 of them stood up and began to walk down the aisle that lead to the buses exit. Selphie was the first to step off. She opened her mouth wide and let out a loud long yawn. Zell stepped off and cracked his neck and back. The rest jumped off and walked for Garden. 

As they entered Garden the sound of voices penetrated their ears in a frantic assault.

"I hate this place." Irvine complained as he brushed past them and into the main hall that surrounded a fountain. Rinoa followed him and linked her arm with his. She placed her head to his shoulder and closed her eyes, letting her boyfriend guide her. Irvine smiled and looked down to her, resting his head atop hers, his eyes remaining open. But there comfort with each other was quickly broken as Rinoa stumbled back, dropping a small binder that she held onto the floor. The floor spilled with papers. Rinoa quickly unhooked her arm with his and bent down to pick her papers up while Irvine walked down the hall in the direction of which she stumbled. He found a brown haired boy, same age as her, stumbling lightly as well. Irvine grabbed his arm and pulled him back and snarled in his face. The boy showed no expression to his threats.

"Apologize to her." Irvine commanded harshly, "And help her clean up, new kid." Irvine demanded as he threw the boy to the floor. He bent down over the papers and gathered them up and handed them to Rinoa.

"Thank you." She said to the boy. Still no expression showed on his face.

"Apologize." Irvine demanded coming close to the boys ear. 

"I'm not good at apologies." The boy told him.

"Don't wanna apologize? Then several fists are gonna meet your face." Irvine threatened almost in a scream.

"Irvine!" Scolded Rinoa as she held her binder close to her chest. Irvine pouted silently and crossed his arms in annoyance. "C'mon, were gonna be late for class." Rinoa told him, her cheery self entering her once more. Irvine leaned close to the kids ear. 

"After school, in the quad." Irvine told him. And with that he began to walk off after Rinoa and the rest of the gang. 

****

The brown haired boy stood quietly in the cloud white room, awaiting orders to begin his training from the window that showed two people through it. One standing and talking to the one sitting at the computer below her. 

"Well, how goes it?" A scratchy voice asked over the intercom from the room into the cloud white one. 

"I think I have all the weapon names and their bullet sizes memorized." The brown haired boy told the voice.

"No, Squall, I mean how was your first day here?" The voice asked. Squall didn't answer. "That bad, huh?" The voice asked.

"Can we just get on with the training, Xu?" Squall pleaded to the older women.

"Fine," Xu began as she rolled her eyes. "Equip your head visor over your face." Xu began. Squall pushed a white triangle pointed object over his face. "Now ready the machine gun next to you." Xu commanded. Squall grasped his hands onto the gun and let it hang to his side. "Now, get ready for training mode 3: Trigger Command." Xu told him. One the inside of the visor screen, it read 3, 2, 1 and then the white room formed into a paved street. Suddenly a quite large spider appeared in the middle of the street as it began to slide back and forth. Squall raised his gun to eye level.

"Center," Said Xu, "Aim," Xu told him, "And fire!" Xu commanded. Squall began to fire. The bullets flew past the moving spider. "Focus!" Xu yelled. Feeling rage building up inside of him from that jackass in the hall he had bumped into, he pulled the trigger down completely, sending a barrage of fire straight through the spider's body. The Spider immediately fell down.

"His Mendula Oblongada seems to be affecting his hit ratio and attack pattern." The women at the computer told Xu. Xu sighed with annoyance.

"That's not the way to fight." Xu said quietly as she looked to the black floor beneath her.....

****************************

A/N: Gosh, I hope this was good... A bit vague on things at the moment, but that's alright, right? Of course it is!! Don't worry, I have already started work on the next chapter, so well, this won't be uhhh.. not continued until most likely the end! ^__^

**------!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!------**


	2. Streaming the Soul

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 8...

~*_Where Life Begins*~_

_~*Chapter 2: Streaming the Soul*~_

_*************_

"Hey new kid!" A deep voice screamed as Squall walked outside into the brilliant blazing sun. 

"Irvine, he has a name!" The brunette wailed to him as she stood next to him.

"Shud up, Rinoa!" Irvine wailed back, Rinoa backed off from him. A bit worry flooding in her eyes.

"I don't care what you call me, as long as it is something I am not." Squall told them. Rinoa looked on in wonder. He obviously wanted to act as humbly as possible around his adversary. 

"How 'bout I don't call you nuttin' and just give you a hard punch in the face!" Irvine threatened as he clenched is hand into a fist.

"What the hell is wrong with you Irvine!?" Rinoa screamed. Irvine turned to her, annoyance written all over him.

"I'm just teachin' him his proper in this place. An' not ta mess with my chick!" Irvine told her, turning back to Squall. "You pushed her over, no one does dat to my girl!" Irvine wailed, a rare spark of anger in him. Squall hesitated.

"Uhh.. Sorry?" Squall questioned. Getting no answer just a dumbfounded look from Irvine, he turned away from the two. Irvine snarled and grabbed Squall's shoulder and threw him around and smashed his knuckles into the side of Squall's face. Squall flew fell backwards and landed on his back. He grunted in pain and rubbed his cheek with the back of his hand, attempting to rid him of the pain.

"And if you ever touch my girl 'gain I sware, these two fists here are gonna find two real nice punching bags for the rest of the year." Irvine threatened as he turned away, leading Rinoa with him. Rinoa looked over Irvine's arm that had just been placed around her shoulders. She could see Squall getting up and walking away as if nothing ever happened, it didn't even seem like he was hurt except for the bruise that rested on the other side of his face. She looked to Irvine's face and saw it proud, like a lion after a kill. But she could already tell that his prey was soon about to strike the him with as much force as the lion had attacked.

*****

_Day 2: Problems_

_*****_

"Students of Garden," Cid began as he stood behind the podium, speaking into the microphone. "The city of Balamb has been issued into a state of emergency, thus, for your safety you are not aloud to breach Garden's walls." The crowd sighed in annoyance. Most of the time, the students favorite part of the day was getting out of the building and walking to town to eat. But now with the city under 'State of Emergency' once again, there was no hope of that anytime soon. When Balamb was issued this state it would take days to get whatever it was under control. Most of the students thought it was just simple riots.

"There goes my day." Zell sighed in disappointment.

"Where's dat perfect boy goin'?" Irvine asked looking behind him.

"That's your new name for him?" Rinoa questioned. 

"I'll call him whatever I damn well want!" Irvine wailed again.

*****

"Prepare for level one combat, Squall." Xu told him as she handed him the gun blade. "Remember, when you need more ammo or a different weapon return here and you will be supplied them." Xu reminded him. Squall nodded his head. "Also, remember to concentrate your thoughts on fighting, not what happened in school." Xu reminded him once more as she looked to the dark bruise that rested on his right cheek. Squall scowled, remembering what that 'Irvine' kid had done to him. "Understand?" Xu asked.

"Understood." Squall said standing up as straight as possible.

"Good." Xu commented. "Now go." She told him. And with that Squall turned around and began to run for the light decorated exit to the building. Xu watched him leave with a small smile. It was his first battle, and her first time being his battle instructor. It was like a mother watching her child leave on the first day of school. As the silhouette image of Squall faded in the light, Xu turned and began to run for the Command Deck where everyone was waiting for her to arrive. She stepped into the dark command room. She looked about and saw Cid, Nida and Matron, standing over a map with a birds eye view of Balamb. Xu walked up to join the trio of them.

"Glad you are here." Cid said as he looked to Xu. 

"How many monsters are on scope?" Xu asked, wanting to skip the introductions quickly.

"At the moment, 2. But more are bound to show up." Matron told her.

"So this time it won't take weeks to rid them off the streets, correct?" Nida asked.

"His hit ratio is superb and his stamina is not crumbling anytime soon." Xu told him with confidence.

"What about his emotions?" Cid asked, wanting to halt Xu's bragging for the new boy. Xu looked solemnly to her right.

"Unbalanced." She told him. "But he should keep cool in this fight." Xu assured everyone.

"You should hope so, for his sake." Cid told her. Xu gulped lightly. An officer a few feet away turned in his chair and yelled.

"Monsters are in range!" 

'C'mon Squall.' Thought Xu.

"DIE!" Squall screamed as he dashed forward, gunblade raised high over his head. The monster pulled it's armored arm up over it's head and blocked the incoming attack. The gunblade bounced off and Squall attempted it again. Again the gunblade bounced off the arm of the monster. He dragged the blade under, slicing it up the chest all the way to the head. Blood flew off the tip of blade high up into the air. The monster collapsed to the ground.

"That seemed like nothing to him." Xu said with a smile. "How are his brain wave patterns?" Xu asked turning to one of the operators.

"Almost stable." The operator told her.

"Good for his first time, no anxiety at all." Cid noted.

"Xu, he is coming up on Admantoise." Matron told her.

"Squall, do you copy?" Xu asked.

"Yeah, what?" Squall asked in a hurry as the Admantoise came into view.

"Swap the gunblade for the machine gun, the Admantoise are dangerous in close range combat." Xu warned. 

"Okay." Squall said with a nod as he turned down the block. Garden loomed high over head, casting a shadow on everything in front of it. Squall jumped down the steps to the weapons chamber and quickly tossed the gunblade to the floor and loaded the machine gun. Examining it loosly he ran back outside. He saw the Admantoise making it's way towards Garden. Squall scowled and raised the gun to eye level. As he began to pull the trigger back thoughts and memories of the fight between him and Irvine flashed through his mind. His eyes filled with rage and he pulled the rigger back sending a volley of bullets for the Admantoise.

"Emotional pattern rapidly becoming unstable." Screamed an operator. 

"Dammit Squall." Xu cursed quietly. "Don't let your emotions take you away. Focus!" Screamed Xu.

"I know, I know." Repeated Squall in annoyance. As more anger filled him, the faster he shot. As bullets clashed against the hard skin of the Admantoise, explosions of smoke began to surround it. The target quickly became invisible by the thick curtain of smoke. Just about as he was to unload more bullets into the monster, the gun ran out of ammo. "Out of ammo?" Squall questioned in disbelief as he looked to the gun. Just as Squall was looking at the gun, a bright white beam shot from the curtain of smoke, ripping the thick smoke to shreds around it. It slammed into Squall with all it's might. Squall skidded along the ground under the beam. He lifted himself uncomfortable and pressed his hand to his head, blood smeared his hand.

"You idiot!" Screamed Xu.

"D-DAMMIT!" Screamed Squall. Thinking irrationally, Squall quickly dove back into the weapons room, grabbed the gunblade and leapt out to find the Admantoise just a few feet away. But that didn't stop him as he kept running forward. "DIE DAMN YOU!" Screamed Squall as he shoved the blade through the monsters neck. The Admantoise dropped flat to the ground. Squall began to sway side to side as he felt a sharp pain rip through his head. His eyes flashed open and closed, then he collapsed to the ground.

****

_Day 3: Comfort_

_****_

Squall awoke to find the same brunette haired girl staring down at him.

"Finally you are awake." She said with a sigh.

"Rinoa, right?" Squall asked attempting to sit up but Rinoa pushed him down.

"You might not wanna sit up, for one your head has been cracked and two you are in your boxers." Rinoa said with a laugh. Squall blushed lightly and looked away from her. "And yeah, it's Rinoa." She confirmed. "But what happened to you?" Rinoa asked in a worried tone.

"I'm not supposed to talk about it." Squall told her.

"Well, if you wanna talk about it, I'm here." Rinoa told him.

"I don't talk much." Squall told her.

"Well, when you want to I'll be happy to listen." Rinoa told him with a smile as she patted his hand....

***************************

A/N: I hope you mortals like this... My eyes burn so badly... I need to look away from the screen...

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	3. Where the Side Walk Ends

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 8...

Dedication: This chapter and the chapters beyond are dedicated to my girl who has been injured in a car crash... I haven't been able to see her and today is valentines day. I'm a bit depressed and forlorn at the moment so this chapter might be short (haven't started writing yet)...

Note: This chapter deals with drug abuse... I decided to put that in to say one thing: Drugs can royally screw your life... It happened to my friend, but his wasn't just screwed, it was taken away from him......

~*_Where Life Begins*~_

_~*Chapter 3: Where the Side Walk Ends*~_

_**********************************_

"I thought I told you to leave him alone!" A stern voice yelled. Rinoa spun around to find Doctor Kadowaki leaning against the door frame. Noticing that Rinoa had given her attention to her, she began to walk forward into the room. "He has training to do." The doctor told her. 

"Training!?" Rinoa questioned in shock. "That's insane! Not in his condition!" Rinoa wailed.

"Be quiet, Rinoa!" A husky deep voice yelled from behind her. She knew who it was. She hesitantly turned her head to the door behind her and found Irvine's image silhouetted with the light from the hall. "Why are you here?" Irvine asked, annoyance in his voice. "With him." Irvine whispered harshly as he looked to the bandaged Squall. Rinoa opened her mouth and began to answer but Irvine silenced her with another comment. "You are supposed to be with me." Irvine reminded her harshly.

"I can be wherever I want." Rinoa told him with a glare as rage sparked in her eyes.

"No you can't!" Irvine screamed. Squall and Dr. Kadowaki looked to Irvine. Anger flashed in Squall's eyes, but he wasn't going to unleash his pain on him. Kadowaki stared on in disbelief at the fact the he even screamed that. Irvine might have been good at getting girls and getting them in bed with him but not keeping them for more than a week. Rinoa just held on, believing that they were in love. They had been together for a month and nothing sparked them. Rinoa wanted to be in love so badly, she turned to Irvine. A foolish mistake that would be deleted from her mind in a matter of seconds. 

The palm of her hand flew for his face, smacking him hard. He stumbled to the side a bit, holding his cheek. 

"Stupid bitch! You weren't even good in bed!" Irvine screamed.

"I'm surprised you have something to compare me to!" Rinoa screamed back. Irvine snarled.

"Get out!" Squall screamed to Irvine. A strong pain slammed into his head and he brought his hand up to the back of his head in a vain attempt to stop the pain from continuing. Rinoa turned to him in shock. He hadn't said much, but that was probably the most courageous and the best words that had slipped from his mouth. Rinoa smiled in thanks. Squall gave a quick glance to her but brought his eyes back to Irvine's and a stern and angry look crossed his features.

"Littl' shit!" Irvine cursed loudly. "I'll fuckin' get you!" He screamed. 

"Get the hell out, Irvine." Rinoa commanded, looking at him with annoyance. Irvine snarled back but did as told and backed out of the room. Rinoa looked down solemnly. She had never had a fight with any of her boyfriends, she was always the good girl. She looked to the injured Squall and a small smile appeared as he clenched his fist in pain. 'Something about him.' Rinoa thought happily....

*****

Day 4: Depression

*****

"That little bitch and that goddamn perfect boy!" Irvine screamed as he pulled the cigarette from his mouth and raked a hand through his hair. As more thoughts of them continued to fill his mind he slammed a fist down onto the dirt. Selphie looked down at him. Her hands on her elbows. 

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She asked in disbelief. 

"Dumb bitch dumped me." Irvine said quietly. A small unnoticeable smirk appeared on Selphie's lips....

****

Day 5: Rain

*****

Rain pelted against the cement of the sidewalk. There were no feet pressing against the hard material. A strong wind blew across the street and the wind changed it's course of direction. The one pair of feet on the edge of the sidewalk flinched lightly. Squall leaned against the wall of a brick building. He took a deep intake of air and discovered the smell of smoke filtering up through his nose. He looked to the possible cause of the smell, his cigarette. It lay between his index and middle finger. Sizzling with a light fire. 

"A poor way of destroying my anger." Squall said to no one in particular. He examined the white stick as his hand shifted and changed positions. "Why do I even do this to myself?" He asked himself. "Oh right, almost forgot!" Squall mused. "'Cause my life is a shit anyway. We all end up dead, what's the point of keeping my body healthy? This Garden only wants my fighting ability, not who I am. No one loves me." Squall confessed to himself. "I didn't even know anyone who was related to me. I didn't even know anyone who actually gave a shit about me." Squall told himself, as painful memories of living on the streets slashed through his mind. I give my life, and I get nothing in return. I almost died for Garden, and yet, the don't even provide a dorm room for me. They throw some money my way and tell me to go to find a hotel. I know dorm space is limited but, I saved all of the students lives." Squall said. He felt something wet smash against his arm. 

_Is This a Tear?_

** 

"Did you hear what happened to Irvine?" Selphie whispered to Zell in the cafeteria. 

"Wah?" Zell asked, wanting to know badly. He was always a sucker for gossip. 

"Rinoa slapped him and broke up with him." She told him with a laugh. Zell began to laugh loudly. Irvine was always the one to brake up with girls when he saw that they were not hanging around him enough, and obvious sign he was just to boring. 

"Well, I think Irvine's gonna need some of the white stuff, if you know what I mean?" Zell asked with a laugh. 

"Don't Zell," Selphie pleaded, "He is so depressed, this is gonna make it worse." She told him. 

"Nah it won't, besides, good profit." Zell said with a wink as he stood from his chair and began to walk for the exit to the cafeteria. 

***** 

Day 6: Kindness 

***** 

"Prepare for level 4 combat Squall." Xu told him. 

"Level 4!?" Squall yelled in astonishment. 

"Yes, level 4." Xu told him calmly. 

"Why?" Squall asked, still shocked. 

"There is only one enemy, but that one enemy is, in it's natural state, invisible." Xu told him. 

"Then how am I going to kill it?" Squall asked. He slightly flinched as the word kill slipped from his mouth. 

"Due to it's large size, it will surely leave large enough foot prints for you to follow." Xu said with a laugh. "And it has no partical beam. So take the machine gun with you and fight from a distance." Xu told him as she handed him the machine gun. "Now go." She commanded. Squall nodded and ran out into the sunny day. 

"Xu, students have been told to stay in Garden." Matron told her. 

"But on the subject of the monster, it seems to be the fastest we have seen since 'Weapon'." Nida told her. 

"Shit." Xu cursed. 

Squall looked down the street and found large foot prints in the street. His eyes widened at the size, but kept his cool and began to follow them cautiously. Hearing no sign of the monster near he began to run down the street in search of it. 

"Squall, behind you!" Xu screamed. 

Squall whirled behind to find an extra set of foot prints straddled over the ones that had already been created. Squall snarled and began to fire while running backwards. He heard grunts of pain, but they stopped quickly. 

"What the..." Squall trailed off. 

"OH MY GOD!!" An operator screamed. "THERE ARE 12 MORE OF THEM SURROUNDING HIM!!" He screamed. 

"It duplicated itself." Xu said in disbelief. "Squall, DUCK!" She screamed. 

Squall ducked and felt a wave of air rush around him, he had just missed their claw swipe for him. 

"Shit." Squall cursed quietly. Feeling desperate, Squall rushed forward, attempting to get by one. He ended passing right through where large foot prints were. He eyed the other foot prints carefully and smirked. He pulled the machine gun to eye level and began to rapid fire at where the legs should be. As his gun passed by more, he heard a grunt of pain. He smirked even more and began to fire in the same spot. The beast suddenly ran off, trailing foot steps with him. Squall followed them closely. 

The foot prints lead him to Garden where they stopped. He began to fire at where the foot prints ended, but no sound was made and the bullets just flew to the sky. 

"Weir-" He began to say but didn't finish as he was slammed from behind. Squall flew forward and crashed into Garden. 

** 

"Where did Rinoa go?" Zell asked Selphie. 

"She was here a second ago." She told him. 

Rinoa peered out the door way that lead to the street and out of Garden. Rinoa saw in shock as Squall was flung into Garden. She gasped and ran out into the street for Squall. She bent down near him and found his head and chest bleeding. 

"Oh God, your bleeding, Squall." Rinoa told him as she gingerly touched him. 

"Rinoa, get out of here." He weakly told her. 

"What the hell is going on though?" Rinoa asked. 

"Abnormalities in his emotional status!" An operator screamed. Xu gave the operator a questionable look. 

"Turn visual camera on for the security camera outside of Garden." Xu commanded. A screen flashed over the arial map of Balamb and replaced it with a picture of Rinoa and Squall. "Dammit Squall!" Xu screamed. 

Squall flinched as she screamed. 

"Get the hell back in Garden!" Squall commanded. 

"No! You're hurt!" She wailed. A deafening boom rattled their ears and they both looked to the cement to find another pair of foot prints. 

"Shit." Squall quietly cursed in a horse voice. "It's coming for me, get away!" Squall commanded shoving Rinoa off of him. But she dove back ont him, covering his body with hers. As a strong claw was about to come crashing down on both of them. A strange bright white shield appeared, blocking the attack but faded. The monster tried again, the shield appeared. It began to furiously slash at the shield. 

"What the heck is that?" Nida asked. 

"Emotional status is completely balanced." An operator stated in shock. "And his harmonics is 100." The operator added. 

"Amazing." Xu said quietly. 

"Move now!" Squall screamed as he pulled his machine gun out and pushed Rinoa out of the way. He pulled the trigger back and launched a volley of bullets to the invisible creature. A grunt of pain was heard, and then silence. Squall sighed in relief as all of the foot prints the monster had left disappeared into thin air. 

"Squall!" Rinoa cheered in happiness. She flung her arms around him. "Congratulations." She told him. Squall was shocked at that one word. Never had praise been given to him. Squall's eyes felt heavy and the dropped shut. "Squall?" Rinoa said as she looked to him. "Squall?" She called for him again.... 

************************ 

A/d: How did you people like this!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!? I hope it was good... but now I'm really tired... So I'm gonna go to bed now.. goo' night!!! My eyes hurt to... 

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	4. Essence of Darkness

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 8... I doubt I ever will...

_~*Where Life Begins*~_

_~*Chapter 4: Essence of Darkness*~_

******************************

**

_Day 7: And She Said, "Don't Make Others Suffer For Your Personal Pain!"_

**

Squall's tired eyes blinked lazily open to see the infirmary ceiling once more. The small notches that decorated the plaster ceiling stared back at him. "I hate this ceiling." Squall told himself as he rubbed his head. As he pulled his hand away from his head he thought of that girl, Rinoa. She was beautiful. Her eyes showed some much compassion, it was the most he had seen in one persons eyes. Well, he had never seen any. Strict rules here and there. People would always bitch about training, and that's it.

"Finally." A voice said , waking him from his thoughts. He looked up to see a girl's figure silhouetted against the background of the light from the hall. Squall's let his eyes crawl down her body. Perfect curves, or at least from what he could see. She tossed her hip to one side and let a hand rest on it while the other lightly grabbed the door. Squall could easily tell that the girl's skirt was short. His mouth almost began to water, but he quickly swallowed the thought and threw his head back down to the pillow.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" He asked, trying to sound annoyed as much as possible, despite the fact that he wanted get up her skirt and-Squall mentally slapped himself for thinking of doing such things. 

"Wanted to check on you. You were the one who saved my life you know." The girl said with a laugh as the silhouette disappeared as she walked closer to him. 

"Rinoa?" He questioned, his head slightly tilting up.

"Yep. Right on the mark." She said with a laugh. As she walked closer to him his eyes flew all over her body in a quick frenzy as to scan every part of her body. She was wearing a tight, white, T-Shirt that left her navel exposed, and just below that was the infamous skirt. But before he could get carried away with her luscious body, he pulled his eyes up to hers. 

"W-why do you want to check on me?" He asked, shifting slightly in the infirmary bed.

"To see how you were doing." She exclaimed irrationally loudly. Squall gave her a quizzical look as she looked out the door and down the hall to the main hall. She returned her head back in and gave a smile to Squall. Squall just stared. "Well, anyways. After you get better, you want to go play tennis with me, Selphie and Zell?" She asked invitingly.

"I-I don't socialize much." Squall said reluctantly as he pulled his head to the side to avoid eye contact.

"C'mon. It's fun." She said with a laugh as she imitated movements you would do in tennis. As she pretended to slap the ball back, she did a slight jump which revealed more of her perfect legs. Squall's eyes bulged. 

"Okay." Squall absentmindedly said as he kept his eyes on her skirt. Rinoa gave a large smile to him and began to bob her shoulders, alternating from one to the other.

"I knew you would say yes!" She said with a yelp of excitement. Squall looked quizzically at her as she bounced out of the room. Then he turned his attention to what he had just agreed to.

"Shit." He quietly cursed.

***

"This is mean, Rinoa!" Selphie exclaimed. The two were at the small balcony which over looked the large city of Balamb, in the dark of night. "Don't use people!" 

"I'll use whatever I want." Rinoa said with a smirk.

"Your willing to sacrifice someone's heart to satisfy your personal needs!? This is all to get back at Irvine!!" Selphie wailed as she turned to her friend who was already turned from her.

"Selphie, I don't need a lecture." Rinoa told her as she felt annoyance building up inside of her. 

"This isn't a lecture, this is a lesson. A lesson in life." Selphie told her harshly.

"I don't want to be taught, I don't want to be told and I don't want to be lectured!" Rinoa yelled as she counted them all down. They were now face to face.

"Well," Selphie began as she looked to her right solemnly. "Don't make others suffer for your personal pain." She told her....

**

_Day 8: Everyone Hates Me_

**

Squall stood longingly out the window as he saw Rinoa playing tennis with Zell and Selphie. It was where he was supposed to be, if he wasn't such a coward. No, wait he wasn't a coward, jus training, yah, just training, that's all. The large window viewed the entire campus. For this building was a completely separate area then Garden. 

He pushed away from the glass and turned around to face the large uncomfortable looking lounge chair inside a large sphere. 

"Squall, the test will begin in 1 minute. Please be seated." A voice over the intercom instructed. Squall began walked for the chair. The room was completely dark, the only thing light about it was the large window. He pulled himself onto the chair and flopped into the seat. "Now please grip the controls with the appropriate hand." The intercom commanded. Squall gripped the left control with his left hand and gripped his right hand to the right control. 

The sphere closed, entrapping Squall in the pitch black bubble. The darkness was meant to ease his mind, and make him relax physically. He would stay there for the next hour. Just thinking of possible ideas while Cid and the others looked on at his harmonics and brain wave patterns. 

_Mountains..._

_Many Mountains..._

_Mountains Change and Move through the passage of time..._

_Sky..._

_Large Sky..._

_The sky is blue and will never change..._

_Though that is subjective..._

_The truth is subjective..._

_The truth? It is given to us by ourselves or by others..._

_Me? I am Squall Leonhart..._

_I am the image recognized as Squall Leonhart..._

_I am lonely..._

_I am shy..._

_I am cold..._

_Why?_

_Because he left me..._

_Who?_

_My father..._

_My father left me for death..._

_He never wanted me..._

_I was supposed to be his happiest possession..._

_I was neither..._

_I wasn't his possession, nor was I his happiest..._

_I wasn't happy with myself..._

_That's why he wasn't happy with me?_

_Possibly..._

_I hated myself..._

_I still hate myself..._

_He still hates me, wherever he is..._

_Everyone hates me..._

_Because I hate yourself?_

_No, I'm just hated..._

_Nobody cares for me..._

_Everyone wants me for my fighting ability..._

_They just want to see myself get tortured?_

_Yes..._

_They see me as their little puppet, and when they're mad they punch me..._

_That's why everyone hates me..._

_I'm nothing more than a scrawny little doll..._

_...............Everybody hates me............._

"That's enough, Squall. You can get out." Xu told him as the sphere opened up, letting in a blast of white light. "And, can I speak with you in thirty minutes, please?" Xu said as she walked off. Squall stood from the chair and stretched. He groggily walked to the window and looked down below to see Rinoa and Selphie sitting in the middle of the tennis court drinking and chatting.

"They probably forgot about me." Squall said as his heart dropped. "Everyone hates me." He mumbled.....

*******************

A/N: Well... I hope this was good... ^__^

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	5. The Day the Sun Fell Down

Disclaimer: Well... STILL don't own Final Fantasy 8... sorry!

_~*Where Life Begins*~_

_~*Chapter 5: The day the sun fell down*~_

***********************************

"In the year 2012, February 28, the world suffered a near fatal blow. According to research done on the site a large meteorite hit the city of Balamb, destroying it and all it's inhabitants while also sending the world off it's normal course. This caused extreme whether changes, resulting most of the planet's plant life to wither and die." The teacher explained to the class. Rinoa sat quietly as she bobbed her pencil lightly in her fingers.

'_I'm not using him. I'm not using anybody. I'm just using my resources to their full advantage. It's pretty obvious he likes me and I know for a fact that Irvine hates him. I think Irvine hates him even more now. This is easier than I thought.' _Rinoa thought with a smile. She looked to her left and found Squall staring out into the distance through the window. All she could see was the back of his head but it was pretty obvious he was bored to death. But before Rinoa could look on anymore the door suddenly flew open. It was Xu.

"Squall, we need you at the main tactics room, now!" She ordered and left. Squall stood from his seat and walked for the door and stepped out into the hall. 

'_Lucky.' _Rinoa thought in annoyance.

**

"Squall," Xu began. "We have detected an average monster carefully sneaking its way to Balamb." Xu told him. "And since it thinks it's so sneaky it thinks no one notices it. I want you to slice it in two with your gunblade." Xu told him. "But it must be a surprise attack on it, otherwise the monster will scurry away and hide." Xu warned him.

"Why can't I just shoot it to death?" Squall asked.

"Classified information." Xu told him with a smirk. "Just slice it in two." Xu told him.

"What about me?" A gruff voice asked from the dark behind Xu. Xu turned to find a blonde boy walking to her.

"We only need one at the moment, Seifer." Xu told him.

"Well, who is he?" Seifer asked in annoyance as he walked to Squall.

"He is Protector One. He has the most authority besides me during combat." Xu told Seifer as she looked to him with annoyance. "He must get going now." Xu said and began to push Squall out into the street.

"I bet his harmonics aren't as good as mine." Seifer said as he watched Squall leave with his gunblade.

"True, but he is a better fighter than you, as well as a listener." She said with a smirk.

**

Squall peered around the corner to find a tall slumped over, thin monster. As the monster scurried toward Squall, he prepared himself. As he heard the monsters shuffling sound come closer. He jumped out from behind the corner, raised his gunblade and sliced down, chopping the thing in two.

"Yah! Go Squall!" Xu wailed with excitement.

As Squall placed the tip of his blade to the ground the two monster half's shifted slightly then destroyed it's prior skin, forming two completely different monsters.

"What the!?" Squall exclaimed, jumping back a little.

"Shit!" Xu screamed.

As Squall stared on the right monster sprang to the right, hiding itself behind an alley way as did the other one, just the left alley way.

"SQUALL RETURN TO WEAPONS ROOM, NOW!" A voice over the intercom screamed. 

**

"From what we have seen so far, the two monsters mimic each others moves." Xu told Seifer and Squall. "Meaning you two will have to synch your attacks perfectly to avoid being severely beaten or even killed." Xu said grimmly.

"How will we do that. That's impossible!" Seifer wailed. 

"Stick to simple things like running forward and shooting." Xu told them. "Your machine guns are equipped appropriately, right?" Xu asked them. They both nodded. "And remember, Seifer, Squall has command of this battle from now on." She told him.

"I know." Seifer said in annoyance as he looked to Squall.

"Let's go." Squall said as he ran for the open door.

The two Protectors stood before the two monsters waiting patiently, not moving. The two monsters simultaneously began to trek forward.

"FIRE!" Squall screamed. They both pulled down their triggers and out came a volley of bullets. The two monsters dove to the side and charged forward. "CHARGE FORWARD!" Squall screamed. They both dashed forward. "STOP!" He screamed. "FIRE!" He screamed once more. The two boys pulled down their triggers, sending another volley of bullets to their enemies, which pierced their bodies. As the last bullet exited through them, they fell to the ground, dead. Squall sighed in relief as did Seifer.

"Good job." Xu complemented over the small radio. "You impressed us, we didn't think you could synch so easily." Xu confessed.

***

_Day 9: The Thesis of an Angel_

***

Irvine stood, silent, out on the balcony to Garden as the sun found it's way into the hill side where it would spend the night. "Da end of a day... Another miserable day." Irvine thought aloud. "And then with daybreak comes da beginnin of a day... another miserable day." Irvine told himself as he propped his elbows against the railing and placed his head into his palms. 

"I thought you said no one was going to be here." A small voice whispered from behind him. He didn't bother turning to see who it was. 

"What? Speak up!" Another voice told her. He scowled at the voice, it was Selphie. Though Selphie wasn't the problem, Rinoa was and wherever Rinoa went, Selphie came... or maybe it was the other way around, but in any case she was there with Selphie. "This would be a good chance to make peace." Selphie told her. Rinoa didn't say anything but he could hear foot steps coming up closer behind him. 

"H-hello, Irvine." Rinoa said with small stutter. Irvine gave a quick glance back to her and tossed his head back to the falling sun. 

"Wha' do ya want?" Irvine asked gruffly. She turned to him on her heels.

"I wanted to make peace with you." She said with a small laugh. Irvine turned to her and looked her straight in the eyes. God how he had missed those eyes, sparkling like giant diamonds.

"Dat can be arranged." He said with a small smile. She gave him a questionable look.

"Do you want to kiss me?" Rinoa asked, almost disgusted. Before Irvine could answer he pressed his lips to hers and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Rinoa's eyes bulged but they quickly relaxed as she fell deep into the kiss. She began to return it.

"How can they have possibly gotten their first kiss?" Seifer asked from atop the Balamb roof. "I haven't even gotten one yet!" He exclaimed in annoyance. "Plus I'm so much better looking!" He wailed. He folded his legs up and placed his hands behind him and leaned against them.

"Stop bitching." Squall ordered next to him. 

"Well, looks like the sun has finally fallen down on the unfortunate, leaving the fortunate to bask in it's warmth." Seifer said sadly.

"Let's hope they all get third degree sun burns." Squall said. Seifer looked at him and began to laugh.

***********

A/N: Another chapter down! Hurrah!! Go me! Squinoa will be coming up in the next few chapters....

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	6. Kiss on a Moon

Disclaimer: STILL don't own Final Fantasy 8....

Note: Read Bears On Broadway story entitled, 'Half of the Flowers are Gone'... That author is my brother and if you like this than you will most likely like that story... ^__^

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to Dark Raion. 'Cause this ummm... non-mortal, reviewed all of my chapters, and the reviews are big and fat! THANK YOU DARK RAION!!!!! 

~*Where Life Begins*~

~*_Chapter 6: Kiss on a Moon*~_

_*************************_

_**_

_Day 10: Kisses so Sweet and yet the Moon Shines so Bright_

_**_

"There is only so much I can take when it comes to kissing." Seifer sighed as he and Squall walked along the path that lead to the gardens of Garden. The birds cheeped lightly and flew from tree to tree above their heads. "Why do so many people like it?" Seifer questioned looking to the cloudless, blue sky. "'Oh yes, get your spit all over my lips!'." Seifer mocked. "Yah, sounds romantic." Seifer stated sarcastically as he folded his arms up and looked to the path they were walking on.

"Someone must find it romantic, if people keep doing it." Squall reminded him.

"True." Seifer acknowledged. "Wait, you actually said a full and complete sentence to me!" Seifer said in shock. "You must be quite interested in this topic." Seifer said suspiciously. "Does Squall have a crush?" Seifer teased with a small nudge in the arm.

"Quiet you." Squall commanded. Seifer rolled his eyes and decided to lay off Squall for a bit, well for about a couple seconds.

"Ask her out." Seifer quickly told him, afraid of getting his neck ripped open. 

"As if she would say yes." Squall said with a roll of his eyes. 

"Ah, come'on! What's the worst that could happen!?" Seifer asked, becoming a bit frustrated in Squall.

"She'll say no and I will become one of those freak hermits who eats his own toe nails and lives in Trabia with only a shack." Squall told him.

"That won't happen!" Seifer exclaimed. "Although that would be very funny." He said quietly.

"What did you say?" Squall asked looking at him.

"Nothing." Seifer said with a smile. There was silence between the two as the gardens came into view. "Xu is supposed to be here, right?" Seifer asked Squall, looking around nervously.

"Don't be so nervous. It's not like were lost and we need her." Squall reminded him.

"I guess your right but I just-" Seifer was cut short by someone popping up from the left path.

"HI SQUALL!" The person screamed loudly. Seifer screamed and fell to the ground while Squall stood looking on at who had just scared his comrade, it was Rinoa.

"Hello, Rinoa." Squall greeted as he offered a hand to Seifer. Seifer graciously took the hand and pulled himself up.

"Did I scare you?" Rinoa asked looking at Seifer who was still a bit fazed from the scream. Seifer brushed himself off a bit and looked to Rinoa for the first time, his mouth dropped. 

_'Short skirt. Tight, white shirt.' _Seifer thought as he almost began to drool.

"Hello?" Rinoa questioned. Seifer looked to her eyes.

"Hi." He said, a bit dazed at her beauty. Rinoa give him an annoyed stare and turned to Squall, hoping for an appropriate answer.

"Is he okay?" Rinoa asked.

"This is how he always is, so no." Squall told her as he looked to Seifer. Rinoa laughed lightly.

"Anyways, where were you yesterday? You never showed up, we waited for you." Rinoa said as she placed her hip to the right and let both hand rest on her hip.

"You were?" Squall asked in shock. _'T-they don't hate me?' _

"Of course! Now where were you?" Rinoa asked impatiently.

Squall pointed lazily up to a large window on a black building just a 100 yards away from Garden. Rinoa looked to where he was pointing and looked back to him quizzically. 

"Why were you up there?" Rinoa asked. Squall was about to answer until a voice answered for him.

"That's classified information, Ms. Heartly." The voice said, Squall spun around and found Xu.

"Oh Xu. Thank God! I'm so glad you found us! This BAKA got us lost!" Seifer screamed as he scrambled to Xu. He wrapped his arms around her legs and smashed his cheek into where his hands were.

"Get off me!" Xu wailed as she kicked her leg wildly about. Seifer finally let go and backed away. Squall turned to Xu.

"Can I talk with Rinoa for a moment?" Squall asked politely. Xu nodded and Squall led Rinoa to a path to the left, where they couldn't be heard.

"What's up?" She asked in her cheery voice.

"Why did you kiss Irvine yesterday?" Squall asked, anger building up inside of him. Her eyes bulged in shock.

"You saw?" She gasped.

"Of course I did." Squall told her. "Now why did you do it? I thought you hated him." Squall questioned.

"I do, but, when he pressed his lips against mine I-I felt protected. Like I wasn't alone anymore. Having his arms around my waist was like a barrier, a barrier of my soul where only the two of us were allowed to enter." She closed her eyes at the memory. A single tear rolled from her eye and smashed itself into the sidewalk below. Squall's eyes became unusually sympathetic, but they quickly snapped back.

_'Kissing is like that?' _He asked himself. "Well, I have to go." Squall said quickly and turned from her. She meekly nodded. 

_'Why did I just tell him that? I never tell anyone that kind of stuff before.' _Rinoa thought to herself, suspiciously. 

The day came and went faster then Squall and Seifer had expected. Being lectured by about everyone must do the day in. Seifer and Squall quietly approached their quite large dorms that Garden had graciously offered. The full moon, high over head, sparkled it's magnificent eerie rays upon the campus of Garden. 

"You don't think anyone is gonna jump us or anything, right?" Seifer asked, darting his eyes about as he walked close to Squall. 

"Probably. They'll jump us and beat us with their large maces and battle axes and steal all our money." Squall joked. 

"Stop being such a shi-" Seifer was about to finish when a voice called from behind them, atop the hill they had just passed. 

"HEY!" A womanly voice called. Seifer screamed and fell to the ground. 

"I'M GETTING THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!" Seifer screamed. "TAKE THE BROWN HAIRED ONE!! HE HAS THE MOST MONEY!!" Seifer screamed again. Squall, with his guard up, pulled a pistol from his pocket and flung himself around so he was facing where the voice had called. Feeling more reassurance in his friend, Seifer stopped screaming and looked to Squall, pistol in hand. 

"You carry a pistol?" Seifer asked, a bit confused. But as soon as he asked that, Squall let his arms drop to his sides. Seifer looked at him awkwardly and looked up to the hill. Seifer's eyes widened. 

A perfectly curved figure of a women was silhouetted to the light of the moon, which was directly behind her. The girl stood there for a few brief moments as to let the two boys gawk at her figure. She shifted slightly, allowing one hand to reach over and grab the other. 

"God." Seifer said breathlessly. 

"Who are you!?" Squall called up, wasting no time. 

"Yah, and what's your phone number!?" Seifer called. Squall gave him a cold hard stare, then turned back to the approaching girl. As the girl came closer into view they could make out her features. Blonde hair, glasses and a tight skirt that dropped to her knees and a tight shirt that showed off her naval. 

"My name is Quistis." She told the two. 

"Quistis, how yah doin'?" Seifer asked flirtatiously. 

"Shut up." Squall commanded. 

"I thought I should tell you, before you make anymore advances on Rinoa, be prepared for a fight to the death with Irvine." She warned Squall, glaring lightly. 

"I'm not making 'advances' on Rinoa. I'm talking to her." Squall told her as he pocketed his pistol. 

"I know you aren't. But Irvine thinks you are. I suggest staying away from Rinoa." Quistis told him as she shifted lightly. 

"Dude, just stay away." Seifer told him, a strange look of worry in his eyes. 

"Fine, but if she talks to me, and he comes after me, I'll kill him." Squall warned as he turned away from her. Quistis sighed lightly and placed a hand to her forehead. 

_'I couldn't tell him the truth, he would hate her forever.' _Quistis acknowledged to herself. Hearing those words from her own mind eased her a tad. She did the right thing, right? 

"Your not really gonna kill him are you?" Seifer asked looking to Squall who had an aggravated expression on his face. 

"I will if that's what he really wants." Squall warned. Squall's pace began to increase as more anger flushed through him. 

"I think he just wants to win." Seifer told him, desperately trying to keep up with Squall's slowly increasing speed. 

"I don't care what he wants, because he won't get it." Squall told him viciously. 

******************* 

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update... I hate projects, and we had 4, all due tomorrow (3-07-02)!! And of course I waited till the last minute to do them... Stupid me. 

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	7. Garden Blackout (('Humorous' Chapter))

Disclaimer: Sorry, I still don't own Final Fantasy 8....

Note: This sorta the humorous chapter in the story and we don't see Squall that much but we see Seifer grow mentally...

~*_Where Life Begins*~_

_~*Chapter 7: Garden Blackout*~_

_**********_

"'Ello Miss Xu." Irvine greeted as she walked past him in a hurry.

"Hello, Irvine." She said in a stern voice, not even giving him a passing glance. Her boots slammed against the tiled floor of Balamb's inner hall way. As the boots smashed to the floor, students, not to mention several teachers, moved out of the way. Irvine quickly caught up with her. 

"Why you in such ah hurry?" Irvine asked her, trying to peek his head over her shoulder.

"None of your business." She quickly answered. 

"Ah c'mon! Ya can tell me!" Irvine told her with a smile.

"No, I can't. It's classified information." She said in an annoyed tone. 

"Well, wanna chat?" Irvine asked as he finally caught up beside her. 

"Let's keep it short." She told him.

"Watcha been up to?" Irvine asked a bit hesitant on where to begin. 

"Work." She quickly answered, not seeming to care much for Irvine's mindless chatter. 

"Work?" Irvine asked.

"Work." Xu answered once again. As they neared a sliding door, she stopped and turned to him.

"After this we go through this door, your gonna have to turn back." She said a bit anxiously. Irvine nodded. As they both stepped into the room, Irvine's eyes wandered around it. The room was barren, the only thing remotely interesting about it were the two doors, one behind them and one in front of them. "Okay you can turn back-" Xu was about to finish until the lights went out, which were replaced with extremely dim lights from the sides of the wall. "Oh you have to be kidding me." She said with a sour face.

"What just happened?" Irvine asked looking around.

"The power died." Xu told him as she put a hand to her forehead.

"Well, the lights are on, I can get out." Irvine told her with a smile.

"No you can't. Those lights are running off their own battery. And unfortunetly, all the automatic doors in the facility are no longer in operation." Xu said with a sigh.

*1 Minutes Ago*

"Squall!" Rinoa called as she ran to the elevator where was Squall was patiently waiting for the two steel doors to slide shut. "Wait up!" She called again as she ran up the steps and entered the elevator, just as the two doors slid closed. "Hey." She said with a sharp intake of air. Squall nodded. Rinoa was about to open her mouth to speak until the elevator screeched to a stop and the lights atop the elevator went out. But just a few seconds later, the back up lights went on.

"Why did it stop?" Rinoa asked a bit shocked.

"Power outage." Squall told her.

"Thank the Lord we have the back up lig-" Rinoa was about to finish until the back up lights flickered out. 

"This isn't a standard issue power outage. If it was the back up lights would still be on." Squall told her.

"Great." Rinoa mumbled sarcastically.

"Q-Quistis. Where did you go?" Seifer asked nervously as his hands flung about wildly in the dark, searching for something to guide his way.

"OW!" Quistis yelped in pain as Seifer's boot thrusted into her stomach. "I'm down here!" She told him.

"Oh, sorry." Seifer apologized as he knelt down.

"Found it." Quistis said with a sigh of relief.

"Found wha-" But before Seifer could finish a blinding light flew into to his eyes. Seifer wailed in pain as he covered his eyes. 

"A flashlight." Quistis answered as she aimed it down. "Now we have to find Squall." Quistis said with a determined look on her face.

"Why?" Seifer asked.

"'Cause I know he is with Rinoa." Quistis mumbled lightly.

"What did you say?" Seifer asked as stood in front of her.

"Nothing!" She said with a light laugh. Seifer looked at her questionably but decided to stay off that topic.

_~*1 Minute Later*~_

"Seifer," Quistis began as she looked behind her to find Seifer following cautiously. "Where are we?" Quistis asked.

"WHAT!?!?!?" Seifer wailed. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE WE ARE!" Seifer wailed once more. "W-Why don't we just go to the front gate." Seifer said with a small smile.

"If we weren't lost, we would be there by now." Quistis mumbled. After a few moments of silence, Quistis turned to Seifer as they stood in front of the elevator.

"Umm..." Quistis began as she stopped and turned to Seifer. "Seifer, have uhh... you had your first kiss yet?" Quistis asked as quickly as possible.

"No, almost, but no." Seifer said reluctantly as he turned his head to the side as to avoid eye contact.

"Why did I even ask that question? How could you have possibly gotten your first kiss, if I haven't even gotten mine!" Quistis said with a laugh as she turned away.

"Hey!" Seifer called in anger.

"So you wanna?" Quistis asked abruptly, turning to Seifer seductively.

"WHAT!?!?!" Seifer screamed.

"I could understand if you don't want to." Quistis told him. "Coward." She said with a cough.

"Am not!" Seifer protested.

"So then, let's do it." Quistis told him as she turned to him. "Close your eyes." She commanded. She slid one hand up his back and to his shoulder, she did the same with the other hand. Seifer slid his hands into the same position on her body. "Here we go." She said softly. 

"Squall," Rinoa began, "Can I tell you something?" She asked as she traced a circle with her finger on the floor of the elevator. Squall looked to her.

"Sure." Squall said.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Rinoa said as she bit her lip. Squall looked to her in surprise.

"This is Hell." Xu mumbled lightly as Irvine continued to jabber on mindlessly about his life. After a few moments of Irvine's rambling, Xu couldn't take it anymore. "SHUT UP!!!" She screamed. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!" She screamed once more as she raced to one of the sliding doors and began to desperately attempt to pry it open. After a few minutes of struggling the doors flew open and the lights flashed on and Xu dropped to the floor but she quickly rose to her feet. "FREEDOM!!!" She wailed as tears streamed down her face.

As Quistis neared Seifer's quivering face, a sharp bing sound was heard to the left of them from the elevator. Quistis eyes curiously as she saw it began descend. 

Rinoa wobbled on Squall's shoulder. She was sitting on his shoulders as he held her legs, with a small smile on his face, her skirt tight black skirt pushed against the back of his head.

"Steady!" She commanded as she attempted to take the covering to the elevator off so she could finally go to the bathroom.

"I'm trying!" He told her as he began to slightly wobble back and forth.

"I-I can't hold it!!" She wailed, as she bit her lip hard.

"Oh please don't go in this position!!" Squall pleaded. But before more convorsation could continue the lights flashed on.

"AHHH!! MY EYES!!" Rinoa screamed as she began to viciously rub her eyes. AS Rinoa let go of the ceiling Squall began to wobble from wall to wall. Rinoa gripped his head, just in precaution if they both fell. "HEY!! DON'T FALL!" She screamed.

"LET GO OF MY EYES!!" Squall yelled as he began to desperately claw at her hands. Then, they both fell.

Quistis's eyes widened as she saw the elevator door open revealing Rinoa on top of Squall, one leg wrapped comfortably in his arm and the other running down the side of his leg. Squall had his hands around her waist and the other one tightly gripping her leg.

"W-What are you doing!?" Quistis asked in a stutter, trying to comprehend what her eyes had fallen upon. 

"Same question!" Rinoa said as she looked on at the two, just about to kiss. 

***************************

A/N: Well, There is the 'humorous' chapter... It will get much more ummm... 'plotty' next chapter, so, no worries if you didn't like this one!!

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	8. Unfamiliar Ceiling

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 8....

Note: Hey ya'll... Well, I have just thought up a new fic idea, go me! But don't worry, I'll finish this story first... But anyone who likes this story will like the one I'm 'cooking' up... ^__^

_~*Where Life Begins*~_

_~*Chapter 8: Unfamiliar Ceiling*~_

_***************************************_

_~*Day 12: Defeat is the Key to my Soul*~_

_****_

"We have target on screen." An Operator told Xu. A screen flashed before Xu, Cid, Nida and Matron revealing a large hunched over monster, with no arms.

"No arms?" Cid asked with a laugh.

"But who knows what kind of power it's hiding." Nida told him gravely. 

"He's right. We can never be to sure." Xu reminded him. "Place armor room on screen." Xu ordered. With a matter of seconds the armor room flashed on screen revealing Seifer and Squall checking out several weapons. "Seifer!" Xu called to get his attention. Seifer jumped at the sudden sound.

"What!?" He asked in annoyance as he placed a hand over his heart in exasperation. 

"It's your turn to deal the death card." Xu told him with a small smile.

"YES!" Seifer cheered. He turned to Squall. "In your face!" He whispered harshly as he placed a finger to Squall's forehead and pushed off. 

"Can you do the operation?" Xu asked becoming a bit irritated in Seifer's current behavior.

"Of course I can!" Seifer said as he saluted her. "And I can probably do it better than Squall can ever do it!" Seifer told her confidently.

"Doubtful." Squall said quietly from the left.

"Shut up!" Seifer commanded. "I promise I will destroy this monster!" Seifer promised to Squall and Xu.

"That's a promise." Xu said with a smile. "I trust you keep your promises?" Xu asked hopefully.

"Well, of course I do!" Seifer said with a big grin, flashing all of his teeth.

"Then pocket a knife and grab a machine gun then head out." Xu instructed.

"YES MA'AM!" Seifer screamed obediently. He rushed to a machine gun and gripped it in his hands. "Machine gun ready and knife already pocketed." Seifer stated.

"Then just go." Squall told him in annoyance.

"I am!" Seifer said triumphantly, and with that, he left.

"I have visual of target." Seifer proclaimed as the beast came into view on the street. Seifer squinted a bit and found that the monster had grown two tentacles, both flailing about wildly. 

"You idiot!" Xu screamed over the radio. "WHEN YOU HAVE VISUAL YOU FILL THE BITCH WITH WITH LEAD!!" She screamed once more. Seifer's eyes became filled with rage and he pressed the fire button down, sending a volley of bullets towards the monster. After the shower of bullets was smoke, just smoke. The smoke wavered in the air for a few moments and Seifer sighed happily at his victory.

"I did it!" Seifer cheered. Seifer turned around and began to jump for joy. He threw punches into the air and hooted wildly. 

"YOU IDIOT!!" A husky voice yelled over the radio, the voice belonged to Squall. "NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON THE ENEMY!!" He continued. Seifer immediately stopped his cheer and hurled himself around to find the dust gone and in it's place the monster, now just a few yards away. Seifer began to lift up his gun but it seemed futile as one of the tentacles raced towards him. It slammed itself into the gun, causing it snap in half and rip from Seifer's hand. 

"Fuck." He cursed quietly threw the pain. He looked to his hand and found it blood covered because of the gun that had practically exploded in his hands.

"STOP LOOKING AT YOUR HANDS!!" Xu screamed impatiently. Seifer quickly threw his head up from the pain of his hands and drew his pocket knife. He flung it in front of him and it sparkled in the suns rays. A tentacle raced for him and he attempted to avoid but he stabbed through his shoulder. After a few seconds of staying in place, the tentacle ripped from his arm, flinging blood onto the ground with its trail back to the monster. 

Seifer screamed in pain and covered the wound with his other hand. He winced in pain and the monster moved closer to him. Blood began to seep between the cracks of his hand. 

"RETREAT AT ONCE!!" Ordered Xu. 

"He isn't going to." Squall told her, still looking at the screen which depicted Seifer. Xu gave him a foul look.

"I-I won't fall back for her. I won't go back. I will not lose." Seifer told himself as he seemed to block out the pain in his arm. He pulled his hand away from the wound and pulled the knife in front of him once more. The knife glinted and reflected the image of the two tentacle monster. Seifer glared viscously and charged foreword, the knife held up by his head and extended foreword. Seifer screamed as he jumped for the monster, his knife aiming head first for it. Just as the knife was about stab the monster in the stomach a tentacle wrapped around Seifer's head. The tentacle lifted him up and tossed him to the side and into the wall of a near by building. 

Seifer lay unconscious on the ground. 

"Shit." Xu cursed. "Send a rescue team to bring Seifer to the infirmary." Xu commanded as she turned to the operators. The operators simply nodded and turned back to where they were originally working. "Squall," Xu began. "I want you to take up Seifer's place. I trust you will finish the job." Xu said to him. Squall nodded. "Then go, and do your best." She told him with a small smile, despite all that had just happened.

"I will." Squall told her confidently.

Squall sat atop a three story apartment building, machine gun in hand and ready to shoot out the intruder. As the monster came into his scope, he smirked and pulled the trigger back. The gun sent a load of bullets towards the advancing enemy. The enemy fell to the side at the sudden impact of the bullets. Once the volleys had stopped and the dust had settled, the enemy lay dead on the ground. Squall slightly smiled at his handy work. 

***

~*_Day 13: Unfamiliar Ceiling*~_

***

Seifer awoke groggily and fluttered his eyes open. Sun light streamed through the window and he sighed lightly. His still tired eyes searched the ceiling of the infirmary. The small black holes in the plaster above stared back at him.

"Another ceiling I've never seen before." Seifer groaned. "And I'm sure I'll be seeing alot more of it." Seifer mumbled to himself depressingly.

****************************

A/N: Well, there is another chapter.... GO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	9. Berserker

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 8.....

Note: This is the second to last battle in the story... the rest of the story will be devoted to Squall and Rinoa ((I know you want it))

Dedication: Dark Raion... for giving some more will power to write this chapter in one hour!! GO DARK RAION!!!!

_~*Where Life Begins*~_

_~*Chapter 9: Berserker*~_

*****************************

The solemn moon light streamed through the window and onto her body. She lay in a thin dress the was knee length. Her hands were closed around one another and both were huddled to her face. Her legs were lazily strewn about the bed sheets, which were now wrinkled. She sighed heavily in a small whimper and brought her knees to her chest.

"I'm such a bitch!!" She screamed at herself. She flung herself into an up right position on the bed and snarled. She bent over to her small coffee table which held her lamp. She threw a hand at the lamp and it smashed against the ground. She bit her lip hard and tears fell from her eyes. "Every night since he came." She mumbled to herself as more tears fell from her eyes. 

***

_Day 14: Follow Blindly on your Scar_

***

"We have target on main screen." Xu confirmed as the screen flashed on revealing a large haunting looking monster. 

"Seems about average size." Nida observed.

"Again, we must take precaution on its abilities." Xu told him. Nida nodded. "Turn on video for weaponry room!" Xu commented. In a matter of seconds a screen flashed revealing Squall and Seifer waiting patiently for their commands. "Seifer." Xu began. Seifer looked up hesitantly. 

"Yes?" He asked in a small, sad voice.

"I want you to deal with the beast." Xu told him with a smile.

"Again? But I-I'll lose." Seifer stuttered.

"It was just your first time without any instructions on what to do. It's not your fault." Xu told him.

"Your right!" He agreed triumphantly. "I'll do my best!" He told her. And with that he ran out the door.

"Squall," Xu began.

"Yes?" Squall asked in his usual husky voice.

"Be prepared to take his place." Squall nodded solemnly.

"This time I won't mess up." Seifer said with a smirk. As he uttered the last letters, the monster came into view. It seemed to have two large sheets of papers hanging down from the nubs on it's arms. Seifer smirked and pulled back on the trigger switch of his gun. The gun sent forth a volley of bullets, each of the bullets hit, but the monster didn't seem to collapse.

"What the?" Seifer questioned behind the sound of the gun blasting away at the monster. As the gun died and lost its ammo he began to speak to Xu through the small radio. "I'm hitting aren't I!?" Seifer asked in annoyance. "Next!!" He yelled as he picked up a rocket launcher. He began to fire, and he didn't stop firing. Each of launch smashed into the target, but it didn't even flinch. "DIE DAMN YOU!!!!!!" He screamed as more rockets flew from their original home and into the monster. "KEEL OVER YOU FUCKER!!!" He screamed again. He was about to unload another rocket on the enemy but as he pressed the button down, it made a small click noise. "All out?" Seifer questioned.

"Seifer," Xu began over the radio. "Continue firing at the target." Xu told him calmly.

"Right. NEXT!!" He screamed he bent over to his left to pick up the next gun, but no gun was there. "What. No." Seifer mumbled. He hurled his head over to the monster who was slowly advancing. Thinking irrationaly, he pulled a small grenade from his pocket. He smirked at the monster and charged forward.

"OH GOD IT'S A B TYPE GRENADE!!!" Squall screamed as he watched the battle from outside the weaponry room.

"SEIFER. YOU IDIOT!!!" Xu screamed over the radio. Seifer screeched to a stop and chucked the grenade into the enemies wide open mouth. Just a few moments later, the grenade exploded inside the monster. The entire street block was filled with a fiery, red, smoke. An outline could be seen of Seifer and the monster. The monster had survived the attack. Squall squinted his eyes to the scene. Abruptly, one of the small paper like tentacles slung its entire self out and pierced Seifer through the chest. The paper like tentacle quickly retracted, leaving Seifer on the ground, half dead.

"DAMAGE REPORT!!!" Xu screamed to the operators. The operators were silent for a few moments.

"There are no life signs from Seifer." They said quietly.

"It's my turn." Squall told himself as he stood from his seat. He raced out the door, gunblade in hand. Just as he stepped out the weaponry room there stood the enemy, just a few feet away. Squall raised his gunblade in preparation for the coming fight. But the fight did not start appropriately, instead the enemy shot it's slicing tentacle towards him. Squall raised his gunblade to his face and the tentacle smashed into it, yes, but didn't stop it. Instead the tip a large portion of the top of the blade. The top of the blade spun off and slashed into the bridge of Squall's nose, creating a deep cut that traced up to his forehead. 

He stumbled and cupped his soon to be scar in his right hand, the other still holding the rest of the gunblade. His eyes flickered in rage. 

"SOMETHING'S HAPPENING IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM!!!" An operator screamed to Xu. 

"His harmonics is 400 and his emotional wave is all over the place!!" Another operator wailed to Xu.

"We've done it." Cid said with a smirk. "We've defeated it." He told them all triumphantly.

"But the enemy isn't dead sir." Nida reminded him.

"Just watch." Cid commanded in a sly voice.

Squall's left hand gripped the gunblade (or what was left of it) tight. He stood up from the ground and charged forward. The enemy didn't have time to react as Squall jumped on it's face and began to viciously pound its face in with the gunblade. A tentacle wrapped around Squall's waist and flung him off. Squall smashed into the wall of a building, but he got right back up. He saw the enemy slowly begin to back away. He smirked and charged forward. Now anticipating Squall's moves, the monster attempted to kill Squall with a swift stab in the head but Squall flipped out of it's way. He slammed his foot into the enemies chest and it was sent flying into the wall of a nearby building. Squall charged forward once more and jumped onto the body of the almost dead enemy. He straddled it and began to pound it in the chest with the remaining half of his gunblade.

A low roar was heard throughout the city of Balamb. As Squall brought another powerful stab down onto the chest of the enemy, the beast exploded, sending Squall flying off of it. The explosion shot straight up in a fiery blast, bringing with it pieces of the cement from the road......

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A/N: Well... another chapter down!!! WAH-HOOOOO!!!! 


	10. The Phone That Doesn't Ring / The Hedgeh...

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 8... sorry....

Note: It draws close to the weekend and me and my friends are gonna go see Resident Evil... that looks like a tight movie, except the fact that it looks kinda corny with the whole matrix-esque fighting....

_~*Where Life Begins*~_

_~*Chapter 10: The Phone That Doesn't Ring / The Hedgehogs Dilemma*~_

_*****************************************_

_***_

_Day 15: Ceiling Remembered_

_***_

Seifer's eyes slowly opened themselves to the world outside his dreams. His tired eyes focused on the ceiling above him. The small dark holes of the plaster atop the ceiling looked down upon him.

"This ceiling," Seifer began in a quiet voice. "I remember it." Seifer acknowledged with a small smile.

***

_Day 16: __The Phone That Just Won't Ring. Part 1_

***

Squall sat at his desk, his pencil moving in circles through his finger tips. His body was hunched over his small wooden desk. The late afternoon sunlight bled through the window of his room. He sat just inches away from the sun though, not wanting to come in contact with the one thing that brought peoples spirits higher. His eyes lazily glided over to his phone which lay just a few inches away from him. 

He propped his elbows against the desk and let a finger press the 'message' button. 

"No messages." Said the machine, almost teasing him. Squall's eyes became cross and he frowned in annoyance, frustration, anger and sadness.

"Not one call... not one message." He said with a sigh. He breathed deeply and placed his head to the cold hard wooden desk. As time moved forward, the sunlight didn't seem to move, just slowly fade. The light of the sun did not creep across his floor, it just stayed, and faded into darkness...

***

_Day 17: A Hedgehogs Dilemma_

***

"So?" Selphie began as she looked to Rinoa as they sat patiently on a near by bench waiting for the Garden bus to come. "Do you know how Squall is doing?" She asked, a bit hesitant on the topic. 

"Okay, I guess." Rinoa reluctantly answered.

"You guess?" Selphie questioned, now feeling a bit easier about speaking of the topic. 

"I haven't talked to him for a few days." Rinoa 'appropriately' answered.

"Why haven't you talked to him more?" She asked her friend.

"He won't let me get close, and I don't understand why." Rinoa said as she looked to the ground solemnly. Selphie hesitated a bit, but finally decided to say something to her.

"Have you ever heard of the hedgehogs dilemma?" Selphie asked, looking to Rinoa out of the corner of her eye. 

"Hedgehogs? You mean those spiny little animals?" Rinoa asked.

"Yeah. Well, A hedgehog may want to become close with another hedgehog, but the closer they become the more they hurt each other with their spines." Selphie said as she looked to the blue sky. "It's that way with some humans. They are afraid of becoming close because they are scared of being hurt." Selphie told her.

"A hedgehogs dilemma." Rinoa repeated quietly with a smile.

***

_Day 17 (Same Day) : The Phone That Just won't Ring. Part 2_

***

It was becoming close to sunset and Squall lay in his bed, looking to the ceiling.

'_What happened yesterday?'_ He asked himself. _'What did I do to that monster?'_

His mind was about to drift more until a sharp ringing noise filled his dorm. His eyes opened in shock and his head quickly whipped to the side. He found his phone ringing and buzzing slightly.

"The phone that never rings." He muttered slightly with a smile. He threw himself up from the bed and dashed to the phone. He grappled his fingers over the phone and ripped it from its holder.

"Hello!?" He asked in an excited voice. "I mean- Hello?" He asked in his usual gruff voice.

"That excited to talk to me, eh?" A high voice questioned over the other end of the phone.

"R-Rinoa?" Squall stuttered, still a bit in shock of the fact someone had called.

"You betcha!" She said with excitement. "Haven't talked to you in awhile!" She said with obvious happiness in her voice.

"Y-Yeah." Was all he could say.

"How are you doing?" Rinoa asked.

"Fine." He quickly answered.

"Hedgehog." Rinoa mumbled.

"Excuse me?" Squall questioned.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all!" Rinoa said with excitement.

"So you're doing fine?" Rinoa questioned, just to make sure.

"Yeah." He quickly answered. She sighed in annoyance at the lack of speech from her friend on the other line.

"Well, I can tell you have a lot of work to attend to. I'll leave you." She said in disappointment. "Bye." She quickly said as the dial tone came up.

"Bye." He said to the high pitched tone. 

*************

A/n: This chapter was very short... I know... But it did reveal alot about Squall, that is if you paid any attention to the detail about his room...

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	11. Losing Sight of Your Goals

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 8....

_~*Where Life Begins*~_

_~*Chapter 11: Losing Sight of Your Goals*~_

_*****************************************_

_***_

_Day 18: Beautiful Leather Jacket_

_***_

Squall and Rinoa sat atop Garden as the sun set for off in the distance. A hue of orange spread through the town of Balamb. A light breeze ran through the two, causing their hair and clothes to sway about. Rinoa shivered lightly and clasped her hands to her arms. Squall took notice of her shivering and did something he did not expect of himself, he put her arm around her shoulders. Rinoa, also shocked from the movement, inched away a bit. However, Squall's arm kept its ground. Seeing no movement in Squall arm, she nestled into it.

"Pretty cool, huh?" She asked him as she looked to him out of the corner of her eye. 

"What is?" Squall asked, his eyes kept on the city below.

"This city." Rinoa said with a smile as she slightly nodded in the direction of the city.

"Why is it so cool?" He asked her, squinting in an attempt to see what was so cool about this place.

"Because you saved it." She told him with a light smile as she leaned her head against his chest. She breathed deeply and sighed loudly. After a few moments of silence, Rinoa finally began to engage in talking. "Your leather is so comfortable, where did you get it?" She asked as she nuzzled deeper into it, almost falling asleep.

"Around." He quickly responded. She sighed heavily. He wasn't going to let her get to close to his heart anytime soon.

"Ahem." Someone slightly coughed behind them. They both turned and found Quistis with a small smile on her face as she hesitantly stepped out onto the roof.

"Oh Quistis! We were just-" Rinoa was going to finish but Squall cut her off.

"Going to say good bye." He finished for her as he stood up, ripping his arm from her shoulder. He walked with large strides towards the exit of the roof. Quistis giggled lightly after he had left.

"What?" Rinoa asked with a small smile on her face. Quistis flopped down where Squall was just a second ago.

"He was blushing." Quistis told her friend.

"You think he likes me?" Rinoa asked with a smile. Quistis's happy smile quickly turned into a serious frown. Rinoa, noticing this, asked: "What?"

"You're still trying to get back at Irvine?" Quistis asked a bit in disgust. Rinoa turned from her friend's eyes and turned them to the setting sun.

"I'm not sure, anymore." Rinoa told her friend quietly. "Irvine doesn't seem that much effected by it. I'm not sure if I'm doing this because I like him or to get back at Irvine." Rinoa said in a quiet voice.

"Keep this in mind." Quistis began as she leaned to close to Rinoa's ear. "He's cute." She whispered with a little giggle. Rinoa began to laugh herself....

***

_Day 19: Standing High_

***

"YOU DID WHAT, SELPHIE!?!?!?!?!" Rinoa screamed in her friends face.

"Hey calm down." Selphie commanded, backing away a bit scared of her friend at the moment. "He doesn't know he is going on a date with you." She reassured.

"But when he finds out that I'm his blind date... it's going to ruin our friendship." Rinoa said solemnly. "And I worked so hard to get it to where I am in his heart." She said quietly.

"Just take a chance... it's not your fault that you paired up with him, it was mine!" Selphie squealed in delight. Rinoa sighed in defeat.

"Fine." Rinoa said in disappointment.

Rinoa sat on the bus bench, waiting for Squall to show himself. While Rinoa waited for him, she wondered how Selphie got him to go on a blind date. She hoped it was some sort of civil way. Rinoa wore a tight black skirt that went to about to mid thigh length and a tank top. It was sun set and the weather was starting to turn for the worse.

"Squall, please show." She mumbled to herself quietly.

'Why did I let Selphie talk me into this?' Squall asked himself as he shoved his hands in his pockets. 'Oh right, because she said it will help me do better around Rinoa.' He reminded himself. 'Rinoa.' He thought to himself as a small smile appeared on his lips. He turned a corner which lead to the bus bench where he was supposed to meet the girl he was to go out with. He saw Rinoa sitting on the bench, cold as ever. His heart throbbed and ached. He couldn't see her, he was so tense and nervous. 

It had been well after 20 minutes, and Rinoa was still sitting there, waiting for him to show up. She sighed in a slight whimper. She had never been stood up. It hurt, it hurt so much.... She stood from the bench but as she stood a tall figure stepped into her eye line from the left of her. She looked to the person.

"Irvine?" She questioned, squinting a bit.

"Yah." He greeted as he stepped closer to her. Wasting no time at all, he wanted to ask the question that had been on his mind for weeks. "Why are ya hanging out with dat loser?" He quickly asked, a bit scared of her reaction.

"He isn't a loser, Irvine!" Rinoa almost screamed. 

"Then why did he stand you up on a date?" Irvine asked. It was obvious he had the better hand in the argument between them.

"He... he..." Rinoa had absolutely good answer to give, in fact, no answer at all. She couldn't figure it out. "Because he probably thought it would be some ugly girl, Selphie did tell him it was a blind date." Rinoa reminded him with a small smile.

"I saw him look at ya. I saw him turn away." Irvine told her as he stepped a bit closer to her. Rinoa looked to the ground solemnly, avoiding eye contact at all costs. "Rinoa, he doesn't look ya the way you like him." Irvine told her, a small scowl forming on his lips as he pressed his chest into her shoulder, lightly. Rinoa turned from him completely.

"He really doesn't like me." Rinoa repeated to herself, her eyes remained closed. _'That means... I'm such a bitch.' _Rinoa thought to herself in disgust.

***

Day 20: _Like That In A Dream. Part 1_

***

"We have target on visual." An operator told Xu. In a matter of seconds a screen flashed, revealing a large hunched over beast. A horn protruded from its head and its hands were close to its knees in its hunched over position and a large hump surrounded its back. 

Suddenly the beast turned towards the helicopter, which held the camera from which they were viewing. A small sparkle shown in on of its eyes, almost like a tear. But it was not, the 'tear' shot for the camera causing it become scrambled, or most likely, destroyed.

"It seems to be updating its own abilities." Nida noted.

"And its also getting smarter." Cid said with a scowl.

*****************

A/N: Well... there is that chapter for ya! ^__^

**Preview of next chapter: Squall and Seifer are ordered to deal with the beast before it reaches Garden's territory. But 'dealing' with it doesn't seem so easy as the two protectors fall unconscious and are forced to relive dark memories from long ago. As Rinoa struggles to see and understand Squall, she falls prey to the beast's power of 'Mind Rape'. As the three plummet deeper into their thoughts, the chance for their sanity and lives are slim. In the next chapter of Where Life Begins, "EATEN ALIVE!!!"**

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	12. How Many Days Since I Have Sung?

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 8... sorry yo! ^__^

Note: Well... Fuck that stupid chapter preview!!! I can't write that!! So now I've decided to completely change the chapter! HURRAH!! 

P.S. The chapters from now on won't be filled with action... ^___^

_~*Where Life Begins*~_

_~*Chapter 12: How Many Days Since I Have Sung?*~_

_*********************_

_****_

_Day 20: Like That In a Dream. Part 2_

_****_

The beast advanced slowly into town. It slowly swiveled its head to the side to examin the surroundings it was now in. It let out a low roar, which caused the glass of the car wind shields below it to smash into a thousand pieces. The glass on the building next to it did the same. 

"Sonic waves." Xu stated as casually as possible. 

The beast dragged its feat forward down the street. Its eyes gave the wanting reflection of wanting to get soemwhere. It picked up its pace slightly.

"The beast is advancing on Garden at an increasing rate." one of the operators stated. "No wait. An alarming rate!" The operator screamed.

"Shit." Xu cursed. She bit her bottom lip as she looked around the room for any sign of hope. She released her bottom lip from the clutches of her teeth and finally received any idea for her mind. "Shut down all power in Garden's main corridors and dorm rooms. Root all the extra power to the electrical backup defense shield surrounding Garden. That'll take care of the defense. For offense I'll have the two chain guns located on the top of Garden shoot the target. Squall and Seifer will be manning the guns." She said. The crew around her nodded in understanding.

In minutes the power in Garden was rooted to the electrical shield and Squall and Seifer sat in the seats of the chain gun operating seat. 

There was silence between the two protectors for a long while.

"Soooo..." Seifer began slowly as a visual of Seifer's came on a window panel of Squall's chain gun area.

"What?" Squall asked, giving him a death glare.

"You gonna ask Rinoa out?" Seifer asked with a dumb smile. Squall just stared... and stared... and stared... and stared some more. "I guess that's a no." Seifer said as he looked to his left a bit. He began to nod his head absent mindedly. "Hey. You like the song-" Seifer was about to continue until the harsh voice of Squall's sliced his sentence apart.

"No."

"But I didn't even ask-"

"No." 

"Why won't you let me-"

"No."

"But I-" 

"No."

"You're such a shit head." Seifer said gruffly as he threw his arms across his chest.

"No swearing boys!" A tender voice came through on both radios. Another screen popped up, it was Rinoa. "This is a killing room. No swearing aloud, just lots of spilled blood and guts!" She said with a wink. Squall blushed involuntarily. Seifer took quick notice of this.

"Oooooooooohhhhh! Squall's blushing." Seifer told her with a snicker.

"When we get out I'm gonna punch you so hard, Seifer." Squall growled angrily. 

"That's the spirit, Squall!" Rinoa cheered .

"Shut up! all of you!" Xu commanded through the intercom. "The target should be on visual now." The two boys took up their serious faces and turned to face the enemy. It was advancing at an astounding rate. "When gets to the electric gate, fire at will." Xu told them. They both grunted and nodded in understanding.

In no time the beast was at the gate, stopped in its tracks, thinking of what to do. The two smirked at fired the chain gun. The bullets riddled through the beast and it fell to the ground.

"Yes! I killed it!" Seifer cheered.

"What are you talking about? I killed it." Squall told him with a glare.

"No I did!" 

No, I did!"

"No, I did!"

"No, I did!"

"BOTH OF YOU! SHUT UP!!" Rinoa screamed.

"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!!" Xu screamed.

"NO YOU!" Rinoa yelled back.

"No you."

"No you.

Seifer and Squall stared at each other and shrugged.

"No I killed it."

"No I killed it." 

"No I killed it."

"No I killed it." 

****

_Day 21: What It's Like To Know A Dove?_

****

Quistis stepped lively into the training center. The smell of grass and her perfume assaulted her nostrils. Normally she wouldn't wear perfume to the training center, but today was different, today she knew he was here. She pulled her whip from her back pocket and walked through the training center. 

She could hear the soft grunts of someone fighting, it was him. She smiled at the thought of him, sweaty and- She stopped herself there. Oh! And all the dirt on him. She mentally slapped herself. She took another step around a corner, and found him there fighting a pack of grats that had surrounded him. His brown hair flew about his face as he darted from one grat to the next, slashing each one as he went by them. His two belts dangled loosely off of his pants and they shined in the artificial light from above. 

After staring a good minute or so, she decided to help him, and get some training done. By the time she ran over there, he had already slain them all, and had begun to walk off for the exit.

"Good timing, Quistis." She said with a laugh as she slapped her forehead.

Squall entered his dorm to find his blinds pulled wide open, pushing sunlight through the window, and a figure asleep on his bed. He crept close to the bed and found that it was Rinoa. She had not undone the covers so she must have been waiting for him. Her white blouse was pulled up just enough for Squall to get a good look at her mid drift. Her short black skirt was also pulled up enough to get a good look at her long, perfect, legs. Squall blushed a deep red and walked to her sleeping form.

Never had anyone slept in, or on, his bed before. He extended a hand and jabbed her lightly in the side. She stirred slightly, and rolled over so her back was to him. Her legs pulled close to her chest. He scanned her leg without thinking and found she had no shoes on. A questionable look crossed his face and he looked to the floor to see if her shoes were there. They were black boots, untied neatly and thrown about on the floor in a heap. She obviously had been waiting for him for sometime now. 

'I just want to sleep.' he told himself in a groggy voice that surprised even himself. He jabbed at her again. This time the contact caused her to flip to her stomach where she swatted in a tired fashion at where the impact at he'd been. Squall quickly became frustrated and he jabbed furiously once. She jumped up to a sitting position with the blink of an eye. 

"What the..." She began as she trailed off as her eyes locked on Squall's. "Oh sorry." She apologized with a small and tiny blush.

"What are you doing here?" A pissed off Squall asked her.

"I was waiting for you." She sheepishly replied.

"Why?" He quickly asked. He didn't want to push the conversation but this was a question that had to be asked. 

"I wanted to talk to you." She told him as her fingers found the tip of her black skirt. The tips of her fingers began to rub over the fabric of it. 

"Why?" He asked again.

"Because you're an interesting person." She answered him. Squall mentally slapped himself for asking why. He should've just said get out of my room or I'll make bad stuff happen. 

"No I'm not." Squall stated as he took a seat at his desk.

"Yes you are! You're also very cute." Rinoa told him with a small giggle. Squall's heart pounded, what had she just said?

"Don't do that." He commanded.

"Do what?" She asked, a bit confused.

"Don't be sarcastic. It's annoying." He answered.

"I wasn't being sarcastic." She told him shyly. There was a long silence between the two. Neither of them stared at one another, to afraid to. "Well," Rinoa finally said, as she stood from the bed. She slipped on her shooes and headed for the door. "Guess I'll be seein' ya." She said with a sad tone and an equally pathetic nod. Just as she was about to leave Squall's voice came to her ears.

"Wait." He called. He stood from his chair and rushed to the door and grabbed her shoulder just as she pulled the door open. Her body stopped moving and her mind ceased functioning, her heart was in full control. She swiveled around, stood on her toes and pressed her lips against his. 

Squall was taken aback but fell into the rush with ease. He shut his brain down as well and his heart do the talking. His arms wrapped themselves loosely around Rinoa's waist and her arms draped over his shoulders. Her mouth parted slowly and Squall followed her action...

_When the world was different..._

_People felt like this..._

_And when the world was different was the beginning..._

_It is.._

_It is.._

_It is......._

_Where Life Begins_

_*****************************_

A/n: GASP!!! They did it! Oh my gosh! I just wanted to thank everyone who was kind enough to review this story. I am grateful to you, and hopefully you can forgive me for not updating this in months... I'm thoroughly sorry. But it was worth the wait, right, right!?!? (Humor me)...

**THIS IS NOT THE FINAL CHAPTER!!!**

REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any suggestions on what to update next? Email the suggestions to drunkpenpen@hotmail.com ! Thank you!


	13. Air Part 1: Love Is Destructive

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 8.... sorry folks... I just don't!

Note: Okay... I'm having trouble writing this now. I'm to addicted to Resident Evil on Game Cube....... I must keep playing...... But after getting the shit scared out of me I've decided to stop playing for just tonight... tomorrow is another story though! ~__^

A/N: Now we're diving into serious drama here... remember the Quistis thing from last chapter? Yah... you get the idea........ or maybe I won't do that.... hmmmm... OH! And... I'm starting a new story but I'm only going to upload with ALL the chapters already there!! ta da!

~*Where Life Begins*~

~*Chapter 13: Air Part 1: Love Is Destructive*~

***************************

Rinoa hesitantly, and reluctantly, pulled herself from Squall. Squall felt his head retreating back, but his arms stayed firmly wrapped around her waist, holding her protectively. She made a week attempt to pull from the embrace but she decided to go with the force of his hands and the force of her heart. She fell onto his chest.

"I-I-I'm sorry." She apologized as a tear rolled down her cheek. "It wasn't my intention to do that." she explained to him. Squall put two fingers under chin and pushed it up so her eyes were facing his. He pushed his sight through her eyes, searching for an answer that had not spawned from any previous question. He found his answer. He pressed his lips to hers, his fingers still pushing her chin up. She slowly pulled his hand down from her chin and pushed it around her waist. 

Outside, Zell and Selphie watched in amazement at the sight before them. 

"Hey guys watcha-" Seifer called as he ran from behind the two and caught a glimpse of the two. "Oh." He whispered. The three's mouth's hung open and dangled in the free air. 

"Get a room." A passer by yelled, "Or at least close the door." Someone else yelled. Hearing the command, Squall lazily picked his foot up and kicked the door closed. 

Squall's hand's made their way up her back. His fingers spanned across her back, and he pushed his face deeper into hers. She was startled by the sudden fierceness coming from the man that had always been so quiet, but she decided to indulge herself in the new side of him. 

A knock rang from the door followed by a slight coughing. Rinoa immediately broke the kiss, realizing what she was doing. Her mind had snapped back into place and she was now in full control. She jerked away from Squall, and threw the door open in a mad rush. As Rinoa pushed herself out the door she smacked herself straight into Selphie. Rinoa stopped for a short time to see who she had just run into, but after the quick glance she continued her run. 

"W-Wait, Rinoa!" Selphie called after her as she ran after the running girl. Squall looked out the door with a surprised expression on his face. After what had just happened he wasn't going to let the one girl who could possibly love him run away from him! Squall took quick pursuit after the two girls. 

Quistis sat quietly on a bench in the main hall of Garden, reading a book in peace and harmony. She flipped a page and she smiled in a warm fashion. 'According to this book, Squall likes girls who are up front and expose themselves to him, emotionally that is, well, hopefully.'. She was about to continue her reading until a series of shouts pounced upon her hearing senses.

"Rinoa wait!" Selphie called, just a few feet behind her.

"Rinoa!" Squall called as he followed Selphie by just a few feet. 

"Squall." Quistis whimpered in a dreamy voice. "Squall, wait for me!" She called as she sped after him.

Before long they were all in the girls dormitories for students boarding at Garden. Rinoa dove into her pocket and fished out her key card. She swiftly stopped at her door, swiped the key card and let herself in, also allowing Selphie. Squall slammed himself against the door in order to stop himself from running. He began to pound his fist against the door and yell her name. 

"Squall." Quistis said in a sweet voice as she trotted up from behind him.

"What!?" He asked in an agitated voice as he continued to pound the door, not giving any sort of glance to her.

"Why don't you ever look at me?" She asked unexpectedly. It wasn't her intention to ask THAT question, it just slipped.

"What?" He asked, a bit perplexed as he turned to her. She didn't answer his question, but just stared at the floor. "What is that supposed to mean?" He asked her, becoming twice as confused as each second passed. 

"Why do you look to Rinoa, but never me?" She asked, a bit of despair running through her voice. Squall was hesitant to answer but began until the door was flung open and an arm grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him in.

He stumbled into the room. And he found Rinoa with her back to him and her eyes out the window. Selphie had just pulled him in. She stood up on her tip toes and whispered into his ear.

"Hold her." She commanded. Squall nodded and began to walk forward, towards the girl silhouetted by the sun and blue sky. He stopped beside her and didn't attempt any type of movement. After a few standing moments of silence, Squall finally looked down to her, in response to his look, she looked away from him.

"I don't wanna talk right now." She stated as she climbed out her window, like a playful 10 year old. She climbed up a sloped wall and sat on a flat space with ample to stretch her whole body. She pushed her legs out as far as they could go and leaned back against her arms. 

A Few moments later, she found Squall climbing up the same path she had taken to get to the area.

"Rinoa." He said her name with a smile as he walked to her. He held down his hand for her, as in an offer for help from the floor. She smiled lightly and grabbed onto his shoulder and pulled him down to the floor. When Squall finally was able to find a comfortable position she relaxed herself against his chest. Seeing this as a chance to get even closer to her, he picked her up and placed her on his lap, her body facing to the blue, cloudless sky ahead of them. 

Rinoa rolled her head back and found a comfortable pillow, Squall's chest. Squall grabbed her hands lightly and pulled them over her lap, his hands still laying on hers.

"I'm very angry with you." Rinoa said.

"Why?"

"'Cause you let down your guard with me."

"What does that mean?"

"You let me kiss you."

"So, what's your point?"

"When you're defenses are down you are vulnerable to enemy attacks."

"I still don't get it." Squall said with a laugh.

"Love is destructive." Rinoa stated as she pushed her lips against his once more. Their hands crept up beside them to hold the others hand in a lock that would bind them to their wills. A small gust of air swept through the two. 

_Air...._

_Love IS destructive!_

*********************

A/N: WOW!!!!!!!!!! That was weird.... I kinda hurried through this chapter 'cause I wanna make some serious Squinoa fluff and drama! WAHOOOO!!! 

P.S. I have Des'ree's song 'Gotta Be' stuck in my head. DAMN YOU, YOU EVIL PAGAN DEMON WHO WRITES INCREDIBLY CATCHY SONGS!!!!!!!!!!! Damn that song, Groove Is In The Heart.... damn it to hell.... it's... so... catchy... Same with Incubus's Drive!!


	14. You CAN Dance! Now Dance Like You Mean ...

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 8............ so sorry..........

_~* Where Life Begins *~_

_~* Chapter 14: You CAN Dance! Now Dance Like You Mean It! *~_

******************

~*_ Day 22: Taste The Rhythm and Dance To It! *~_

Rinoa awoke with a quiet yawn. She blinked several times which made a portion of sleepiness remove itself from her. She looked around at her surroundings and found just where she expected to be, her dorm room. She lifted herself up and threw her legs over the side of her bed. She swept a hand threw a part of her hair and noticed something on her floor that she had not noticed previously. It was a black leather jacket with the topped heavily rimmed with feathers. She picked it up and immediately knew that it was Squall's. She smiled as the thought of them together yesterday echoed through her mind. She folded the jacket up and placed it on her bed. She ran her hand through her hair once more and found it of an almost greasy texture. She grimaced and decided a shower was in order, then she would take the jacket to Squall.

Squall took his seat at a lone table with a tray of food in the cafeteria. He pushed himself up close to the food and began to eat. But before he could eat much, someone said from quite aways away.

"So? She left you?" A hyperactive voice asked. Squall didn't look panicked, but, inside he was horribly panicked. He was talking about Rinoa, he knew it. And the only person he would be talking to would be... Irvine. 

"Shit." Squall mumbled through a mouthful of food. He began to pick up his tray until he heard the conversation push on. 

"I can't fucking believe it!" A deep voice exclaimed. It was Irvine's voice, it was obvious. "That damn whore." Irvine cursed quite loudly which caused people around him to look at him in a strange way. An anger flared through Squall. It was an anger he thought could never exist in one person. 

"Dumb fucking BITCH!!!" Irvine screamed as loud as he could, which caused everyone in the cafeteria to look at him. 

"Dude calm down." Zell commanded with a light hearted voice. Squall's anger surged and coursed through his body.

"I want to snap THAT FUCKING BITCHS DAMN NECK!!!!!!" He screamed as loud as he could. "DUMB GODDAMN WHORE!!!!!!!" He screamed. Something snapped inside of Squall, along with the fork with which he had been bending and twisting out of its form through Irvine's screams. Squall sat up from his seat with such a hurry that it caused his chair to slam to the ground and skid for about four feet behind him. This caught Irvine's attention just as Squall spun around, revealing himself.

Squall glared as his ungloved hand made into a fist and Irvine smirked.

"Look what the whore dragged in!" He said with a laugh as he took one step forward. "Where's your jacket Squally boy? You look so plain without it. All you have is a white tank top under it. Well, if that's all you got under that jacket of yours I'll be happy to buy you something that does actually go under it." He said with a smirk as he took a few more steps forward. 

"I'm surprised you want me to wear anything there. You always seem to be looking at my chest and then your mouth begins to water." He countered while taking his few steps forward. 

Irvine laughed. "Well, are we going to sit here and chat all day or is this going somewhere else?" He asked walking up to Squall. Squall glared and began walking up to him, a bit faster than Irvine. 

By the time Squall was close to Irvine, Irvine's past screams came racing back to Squall. 

_'Dumb fucking BITCH!!!' _He heard Irvine scream in his mind. With the scream Squall's right, balled up, fist flew at Irvine's face. Irvine stumbled back from the blow to his cheek. 

"Well, that was quite a surprise!" Irvine said with a quick laugh as he wiped the spit off of his cheek and lip.

"Fight!" Someone screamed from the already large crowd of people around them. 

Irvine continued to laugh as he put up his fists in a fighting stance. His laughter abruptly stopped as his fist flew for Squall's face. Squall attempted to dodge out of the way but it was to no avail. Irvine crashed his knuckles into Squall's nose. The sound of cracking cartilage tore through the large room. A chorus of 'ooohs' sang through the crowd of people. 

Irvine gave another laugh as blood began to fountain out of Squall's nose. Squall ignored his pain and pushed on.

**_Squall awoke to find the same brunette haired girl staring down at him._**

**_"Finally you are awake." She said with a sigh._**

**_"Rinoa, right?" Squall asked attempting to sit up but Rinoa pushed him down._**

**_"You might not wanna sit up, for one your head has been cracked and two you are in your boxers." Rinoa said with a laugh. Squall blushed lightly and looked away from her. "And yeah, it's Rinoa." She confirmed. "But what happened to you?" Rinoa asked in a worried tone._**

**_"I'm not supposed to talk about it." Squall told her._**

**_"Well, if you wanna talk about it, I'm here." Rinoa told him._**

**_"I don't talk much." Squall told her._**

**_"Well, when you want to I'll be happy to listen." Rinoa told him with a smile as she patted his hand...._**

The memory flashed through his mind which made him instinctively smash his fist into Irvine's stomach. Irvine doubled over while gripping his stomach in extreme pain. Squall brought his other fist straight into Irvine's face and Irvine wailed in pain as he flicked his head back, his cowboy hat flew off and began to slowly glide down to the floor. 

**_"What are you doing here?" A pissed off Squall asked her._**

**_"I was waiting for you." She sheepishly replied._**

**_"Why?" He quickly asked. He didn't want to push the conversation but this was a question that had to be asked. _**

**_"I wanted to talk to you." She told him as her fingers found the tip of her black skirt. The tips of her fingers began to rub over the fabric of it. _**

**_"Why?" He asked again._**

**_"Because you're an interesting person." She answered him....._**

Another flew through him and with it, another fist was forced into Irvine's cheek and then a strong kick into his chest.

"Selphie!" Rinoa yelled to her friend who was running ahead of her. Selphie heard Rinoa call and she skidded to a stop and yelled back.

"C'MON!!! FOLLOW ME!!" She yelled as loud she could through the noise and jumble of the main hall. Rinoa was perplexed but followed her anyways. 

When they both finally stopped they were both in the cafeteria, flocks of people were running around them into what seemed to be a big circle of people. Rinoa could hear cheers and hollers from the circle. The cheers were so loud, almost as if it was a fight.

"What the hell is going on!?" Rinoa asked looking from the circle and back to Selphie. "Is it another stupid 'Card Battle'?" 

"I have no idea, everyone seemed to be in a rush here so I followed. It was complete curiosity." Selphie admitted to her with a wink as she ran up into the mass circle of people. Rinoa sighed in annoyance and followed her into the mass of people. 

The two girls pushed their way to the front. Selphie was the first to arrive with a smile, but when she saw what was happening, her joyous smile faded and a stoned face took the happy ones place. "Selphie! You've got to tell me what it is!" Rinoa said with a laugh as she finally found her friend at the front. She looked to her friend and found the side of her face. "Is something wrong?" Rinoa asked, suddenly becoming worried about her. Selphie slowly nodded and she lightly pulled Rinoa's face to the center of everyone's attention. She gasped and cupped her mouth with her hand. 

Nobody took notice of Rinoa, no one that is until Irvine found her out of the corner of his eye. He smirked and looked back to Squall. 

"Rinoa!" Irvine called in a sweet voice as he looked back to her. The name instinctively brought Squall's eyes to Rinoa. Squall expected her to have one of her sweet faces, like everyday, but it was different this moment. Her face was one of horror, she was terrified. 

"SQUALL!!!" She called. "BEHIND YOU!!" She screamed. Squall's mind immediately picked up on where he was and what he was doing. He spun around just to find Irvine bringing a massive steel chair straight for his head. The last thing he heard for the day was a cry from Rinoa.... 

**"SQUALL!!" **

**********************************************

A/N: Well, I know I haven't written in SUCH long time... And I really DO plan on finishing this story!! I really, really do!!! 


	15. Far From It

Disclaimer: Don't own Final Fantasy 8...

Note: Hey hey! I'm beginning to write my FIRST Quistis fic. It's gonna be called 'www.blondegirl'. Read the summary for it on my bio page!

_~* Where Life Begins *~_

_~* Chapter 15: Far From It *~_

_*************_

_~* Day 23: Kick, Kick!! Punch, Punch!! Now You're The Master! *~_

Squall's eyes slowly flickered open to the sight of the infirmary room. The light from the morning sun raced through the window and onto the infirmary sheets placed on his feet. He yawned heavily and attempted to push off of the bed until a crashing pain split through the back of his head. He moaned deeply in pain and slowly placed himself back down. He sighed in relief as the pain subsided and escaped him. 

A few moments later the doctor came in to the room with the push of the door. She looked to him and he gave a small smile, a smile that told her he was doing fine. 

"Ms. Heartily!" The doctor in annoyance as she placed her hands on her hips. Squall gave her a questionable look. He found her staring at the ground just to the left of his bed. "I told you to be gone by morning!" The doctor scolded.

"I'm sorry." A sleepy voice answered. Moments after the voice Rinoa stood up from the floor she was sleeping on. "I fell asleep by accident." She said with a weak little laugh. 

"You really are a lot of trouble." The doctor said with a laugh as she shook her head. Rinoa turned to Squall who was staring back which startled her considerably. 

"Good morning, Squall." was all she said. She coupled the the short greeting with a pathetic wave and then she left, not another word. Squall watched her leave with a sadness in his eyes. 

"Bye." He weakly called out to no one.

Rinoa stormed through the halls of Garden in a mad hunt. She passed a few people along her way and the second she saw them she stopped and blurted in their faces "Where's Irvine!?". They usually either cowered away or shrugged. Rinoa had been to every single section of Garden except one, the Library. But why would that dumb ass be there anyways? She didn't bother to try to figure it out she just decided to barge in on Irvine, slap him and play it by ear. 

She stormed into the library and screamed "IRVINE!!!!".

Irvine popped his head around one of the book shelves and he gave a smirk and a wave. He returned his head and a few moments later his whole body came back instead of just his head. He walked for her with open arms and a smile on his face. 

"My dear Rinoa." He cooed lovingly. "What can I do for you my sweet?" He asked coming just close for arms length. Rinoa didn't say anything and instead brought her palm up swiftly and slammed into Irvine's cheek. Irvine's head twisted to the side from the force and a red mark was placed where she had hit him, hard. "I missed you, too." He said, his head still turned.

"Shut up you ass hole." Rinoa demanded with snarl. After the comment Irvine roughly grabbed her arm and yanked her behind one of the bookshelves. He pinned her against the wall just behind the bookshelf and looked around cautiously. 

"Good we're alone now." He cooed lovingly in her ear and even though Rinoa didn't want to, she moaned lightly in pleasure at the hot touch of Irvine's breath. He grabbed her wrists with his hands and pinned them both above her head and he placed both of his feat on hers. "And you can't leave me now." He said into her ear as he licked lightly. The touch of his tongue almost made Rinoa throw up. The breath might have felt good, but the tongue took it a bit to far. 

"That's so disgusting." Rinoa mumbled, not intending for Irvine to hear but he heard it.

"You used to love this. OH! And don't play dumb anymore, I know why you're flirting with Squall." He hissed into her ear. He bent his head down to her neck and began to kiss gently and then hard. Rinoa's eyes widened in shock and her mouth dropped open. 

"It's not like that anymore." She told him, now noticing Irvine's kisses and where they were headed. She jerked her body in every direction but she couldn't escape the power he was pressing on her. 

"'Course it's not." He said sarcastically as he released a grip on one wrist but he only ended up smashing his elbow into the other one while keeping his hand pinning the other wrist from which he had just let go. With his free hand he began to softly caress her breasts. 

"You sick goddamn pervert." She said as tears rolled down her cheeks. 

"Leave her alone!" a voice called from above. Irvine ripped from Rinoa and to where the sound had come from, on the very top of the bookshelf. Rinoa looked up herself and found that it was Seifer. She smiled through all her tears. Even if he wasn't going to stop him, it still gave her time to run away, so she did. She ran straight past Irvine. Irvine didn't seem to care, he just kept staring at Seifer who was high atop the shelf. 

"Squall sent you didn't he?" Irvine asked with a sly smirk. "Well, fortunate for me, I brought a reinforcement as well!" He said with a laugh as he reached inside of his coat and pulled a small Official Garden pistol from it. 

"You cheater." Seifer snarled as he jumped down off the shelf and onto the ground in front of Irvine. 

"Shud up!" Irvine commanded as he shot the pistol but missed and hit a book which caused a portion of it to explode into tiny paper fragments. 

"I think it's a hazard to your health if you even use that thing." Seifer said with a laugh as he kicked Irvine in the stomach. Seifer kept laughing like nothing ever happened. 

"Yah' little bitch!" Irvine yelled in annoyance. Irvine steadied his pistol through the pain in his chest. 

"C'mon fire already you dumb ass!" Seifer coaxed. Irvine snarled, fired and missed. "I'm impressed you almost scratched my clothing!" He said as he kicked the gun out of his hands. A couple people who were brave enough to peer around the corner of the shelf saw the sight before them and gasped. Irvine looked toward them and scowled. He didn't want anyone to see him like this. 

"I suggest that you leave." Seifer told him coolly as he smirked at him. Irvine glared and made a quick jump for the gun just in front of him but Seifer stepped on the gun and pulled it to him. "Don't." Seifer commanded. Irvine glared harder and ran away from him. 

Seifer sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You owe me one Squally boy." Seifer whispered to himself. 

~*_ Day 24: Take On Me *~_

"Squall." A soothing voice cooed in his ear. Squall awoke with a few quick blinks and rose his head up. 

"Who's there?" He questioned in a tired voice.

"It's me, Rinoa." She said with a giggle as she softly placed a warm hand on his chest. Squall inwardly smiled from the touch. 

"Don't touch me." He commanded as he swatted her hand off his chest. True, he did want her hand to be touching him, but it just didn't feel right. 

"Sorry." She apologized as her eyes fell to the infirmary floor. There was silence between the two for awhile until Squall finally said something. 

"What time is it?" Squall asked looking to her. 

She hesitated before answering. "I don't know." She admitted.

"Oh." He plainly answered. Again, there was silence until Rinoa burst into conversation.

"Want to know why I kissed you?" Squall looked to her in confusion. 

"What?" He asked, perplexed of the question. 

"Do you?" Rinoa asked leaning closer to him. 

"Okay." Squall said, he wasn't quite sure what to say so he said whatever he thought of. 

"Because I like you." Rinoa told him as she hid her face from him in embarrassment. And for the first time in a long time, Squall Leonhart smiled....

~* _Day 25: Why oh Why? *~_

Squall was happy to be out of the infirmary, he missed the sent of Garden, if there was one. He continued the walk to his dorm. As he neared his door random people lingering in the hall ways gave him strange looks. Some of the looks were winks, some of them were death glares and some of them were of pure astonishment. Squall tried to ignore them as best possible. 

He got to his door and he pulled out his keycard but just as he was about to swipe it through he noticed a note on the door that read:

_'Squall,_

_ Meet me in the secret area as soon as possible. We need to 'talk' about something._

_ Love,  
Quistis.'_

He looked confused by the note but decided to take the notes command and head for the secret area. He ripped the note off the door, crumpled it up and tossed it in the middle of the hall.

Squall stepped into the secret area looking around for Quistis. He stepped farther in and a voice called to him. "Squall, we need to talk, badly." A feminine voice told him, it was Quistis.

"About what?" Turning to Quistis who was in the shadows. She stepped out of them and walked for Squall.

"About Rinoa." she said. Squall was interested. "She hasn't been telling you things that you need to know." 

"Yeah? Like what?" He asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"She's been using you." Quistis told him biting her lip.

"What?" Squall asked in shock, not quite believing what he had heard. 

"She's using you to get back at Irvine." Quistis told him with a sad look on her face as she grabbed his shoulders roughly. Squall yanked away from her.

"I don't believe you." Squall asked as glared at her deeply. 

"You've got to!" She cried. "I don't want to see you get hurt!" 

"You're insane." Squall told her through clenched teeth. 

"She's just using you!" She yelled.

"Why the hell did I even come here?" Squall asked himself in disbelief. He turned away to leave but Quistis's hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him to her.

"If you leave now you'll experience the hardest fall in all of existence." Quistis told him. 

"I think if I leave, it'll be the greatest high I've ever had in my life. I have nothing to lose, falling will do nothing." Squall told her as he stormed away.

******

A/n: Another chapter is done. It's time to dance! Shcoob be Deedy Boo Bop!


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